Water Treatment for Better Livestock

It is a known fact that water is the elixir of life. Water contributes to 50-80% of an animal's weight and is required for every process. The amount of feed intake is also directly related to the amount of water intake. There are many compounds in water which can affect the health and performance of livestock. Cattle are tolerant to poor water conditions, but the concentrations of specific compounds found in water should not either too high or low. With high concentration of certain specific elements, livestock's growth can be hampered. Thus, clean drinking water is essential for proper growth and production of livestock. The necessity of water treatment for better livestock is discussed in details below.

The inadequate drinking water can result in significant weight loss and low milk production in cattle. Poor water quality can cause illness and diseases in livestock. Lactation and reproduction may be affected, causing a loss to the farmers. The major problems with waste water or poor quality water which hampers the growth of cattle are the total dissolved salts, cyanobacteria or blue green algae that are present, sulfates and pathogenic micro-organisms. All these elements deteriorate the growth and metabolism of livestock. Thus, in order to remove these elements from waste water, water treatment for better livestock is essential.

In addition to the above problems, diseases associated with stale water are another concern. Dirty water is a host for infections and diseases. Amount of dissolves salts should be less than 3000ppm for better functioning of cattle. Water treatment for better livestock is generally carried out with the help of reverse osmosis techniques. Wetlands also serve as a water treatment technique which is used remove contaminants from water.