Water testing

Testing Livestock Drinking Water

Testing to determine whether a source of water will be suitable for livestock drinking water.

Taking a Sample | Guides and Supporting Information | Contact us Today

About this Testing

It is essential that livestock can access good water for drinking. Poor water quality can result in a reduction in animal productivity, fertility and in extreme cases, death. Contaminants in drinking water can also find their way into animal products resulting in human health risks and therefore saleability of the product.
Guidelines for Livestock drinking water quality can be found in the ANZECC guidelines. These guidelines cover a wide variety of chemicals, however we have only included those analytes likely to be of concern.

Test	ANZECC Trigger Value	Comment
pH	6 - 8.5	pH < 5 indicates a high corrosion potential for stock watering systems pH > 8.5 indicates an increased fouling potential for stock watering systems (groundwater)
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)	<2000 mg/L	TDS greater than 2000mg/L can cause adverse effect in stock. Refer to the ANZECC guidelines for more information.
Hardness	60 - 350mg/L CaCO3	< 60mg/L has an increased corrosion potential > 350 indicates an increased fouling potential
Langelier Saturation Index (LSI)	-0.5 - 0.5	< -0.5 indicates an increased corrosion potential > 0.5 increased fouling potential
Calcium	<1000 mg/L	Major ion. In the presence of high concentrations of magnesium and sodium, the tolerable level of calcium may be less
Magnesium	NA	Major ion. Concentrations up to 2000mg/L have been found to have no adverse effects on cattle.
Nitrate	<400 mg/L	Water containing more than 1500mg/L of nitrate is likely to be toxic to animals. Note: 1mg/L nitrate-N = 4.43 mg/L nitrate.
Copper	<0.4 mg/L (sheep)	Other limits are <1 mg/L (cattle), <5 mg/L (pigs and poultry)
Iron	NA	High levels of iron can contribute to chemical fouling and biological fouling
Lead	<0.1 mg/L
Manganese	NA	High levels of manganese can contribute to chemical fouling and biological fouling
Faecal Coliforms	<100 per 100mL	Indication of faecal contamination and hence microbial pathogens. Faecal Coliforms are also known as Thermotolerant coliforms
Sulphate	<1000 mg/L	Major ion. Excessive concentrations of sulphate in water typically cause diarrhoea in stock.
Arsenic	<0.5 mg/L	Can be present in groundwater from Geothermal sources.
Boron	<5 mg/L	Can be present in groundwater from Geothermal sources.

Taking a sample

Ideally the sample should be taken from the trough or where ever the drinking water is available to the stock.

When taking the sample, it is very important to follow the instructions provided, especially for the Ecoli test. This requires a sterile container (square plastic 400mL) and the tap needs to be sterilised to make sure that no contamination occurs. Also note that we need the samples back with 24 hours and less than 10°C, otherwise the results will not be valid. For clients who are not within easy driving distance from Hamilton or Christchurch, we suggest taking your sample in the early afternoon and sending it overnight to the laboratory.

Unsure about the correct container to use to submit a sample? Consult our container guide

Sampling eqipment:

Request a Routine Water Kit from the Laboratory. It contains 3 sample containers which are all required for one test, i.e. they should all be filled from the same sampling point, not from 3 different points.

Guides and Supporting Information

Technical note Microbes in private water supplies