High quality water should be readily available for the animals concerned, since low-quality water can quickly lead to all kinds of problems, resulting in a lowering of the technical results. The best practice is therefore to check the drinking water annually. In so doing, it is important that samples be taken both at the source and at the drinking places. Different analytical results are often observed because a lot of water decays along the way due to unclean automatic drinkers, an excessively high ambient temperature, an excessively low flow rate, all kinds of additives and residues, too many unnecessary bends, dead-end pieces, etc. Even out in the field it is easy to determine whether the quality is too poor. All you have to do is fill a clear bottle with water at a drinking place. If, after shaking, no flakes can be seen and if, after four hours, the water does not smell, than the chances are already very good that the water is suitable as drinking water.

With pigs, the presence of low-quality water can lie at the basis of a wide range of problems such as stomach and intestinal disorders, skin and liver problems, diarrhoea, bladder inflammations, etc. Water contaminated with pathogens enables quick growth of such dangerous diseases as salmonella, porcine reproductive- respiratory virus, dysentery, etc. PRRS can live in the pipeline for ten days, epizoothic pneumonia for more than a month. Pathogens obtain additional protection from biofilm, which is inside the pipelines or under the nipple of drinking troughs. According to some data E. Coli bacteria is 3000 times more resistant due to biofilm.

Hert-Yan Herrtis, commercial and technical director of “Cehave korm “Ltd

You can read more in the magazine publication "Profitable Pig Production", № 4, June 2011