Do You Know Your Water Quality

In the above picture, which water sample is the worst? The question you have to ask is are you sure? The clear water sample could have compounds in the solution that we cannot see. When people think about nutrition, things like amino acids, carbohydrates, fat, and energy content come to mind. Nutritionists pay a great deal of attention to feed composition and quality. However, water is also a nutrient that deserves attention as well but for many years has been ignored. When so much attention is ...paid to ensuring that feed quality is optimized then it should also make sense to know what kind of water is being consumed. Not only does water serve an important nutritional and physiological role, but it is also important in maintaining an optimal house environment. In poultry production water is needed for bird consumption and evaporative cooling. As house construction and design has improved to give considerable control over the bird’s environment, things that may not have been a significant problem before now have bigger impact on house environment and bird performance. People in food animal production would like to provide the best water possible to ensure that the birds perform well. However, not all water is of the same quality and may need to be treated to make it more suitable for bird performance and protect house equipment. The question is whether or not a return on investment in a water treatment system can be achieved and how quickly can the system pay for itself. In order to answer such questions, producers need to know what kind of water they have and what components make water acceptable or unacceptable.