Water supply in dairy farm

Water is an essential element for all life and is important for domestic use, industrial purposes, crop production and livestock farming. Dairy farms rely on good quality water to ensure maximum milk production and herd health. Therefore, providing dairy cattle an adequate supply of water is important. However, water consumption may be decreased if poor quality water is offered.

Estimating the property water requirement involves determining how much water is used on-farm. Typical water uses include: stock, the dairy, evaporative losses, household use, and a contingency supply that may also be needed for fire-fighting purposes.

Ensuring dairy cattle have an adequate supply of drinking water is an important nutrition consideration for dairy farmers. A cow’s body is between 60% and 80% water, while milk is 87% water. Water storage is one way to accumulate water slowly in off-peak periods to be ready for high demands. The system itself provides some built-in storage.

Total dissolved solids, total soluble salts and salinity are physiochemical properties of water used to assess water quality. These terms are used synonymously and measure the amount of sodium chloride, bicarbonate, sulphate, calcium, magnesium, silica, iron, nitrate, strontium, potassium, carbonate, phosphorus, boron and fluoride in water.

Few studies have linked water pH with any livestock health or performance issues. It was suggested that water pH should fall between 5.1 and 9.0 for dairy herds. They suggested that acidic water with a pH less than 5.1 may increase problems related to chronic or mild acidosis while water with a pH over 9.0 may result in problems related to chronic or mild alkalosis.
Water supply in dairy farm