INFORMATION SHEET No. 5.

4-1
Water Quality

Learning Objectives:
After reading this INFORMATION SHEET, YOU MUST be able to:
1. monitor water quality

Although water is a critical resource for profitable livestock production, there

has been surprisingly little research done to better understand how its use can
be optimized. The lack of research on water and its use in swine production has
been as a result of the fact that until recently, water supply in most parts of the
world has been plentiful and inexpensive, and therefore easily taken for granted.
It is for this reason that water has been described as the forgotten nutrient.

Water can no longer be taken for granted mainly because access to good
quality water is becoming increasingly limited, thus presenting major challenges
to the growth and development of swine production in Canada. Also, poor quality
water negatively affects pig performance and may encourage excessive water
usage. The latter will create manure handling and disposal problems as a result
of increased slurry volume. Various factors including the concentration of
dissolved minerals and bacterial contamination affect the quality of drinking
water for livestock.

The response of pigs to these factors varies widely. Dealing with a water
quality problem can be a major challenge and often water treatment does not
correspond to improved animal performance. Furthermore, pig production in
large scale provides abundant amounts of manure, which is increasingly
contributing to environmental pollution and eutrophication of water bodies. High
concentration of water in the manure (86-98 per cent) increases the costs of
storage and disposal. Water in the manure originates mainly from excreted urine
and this is closely related to water intake.
 As the livestock sector becomes more aware of the fact that water is a critical
resource for profitable production, it is critical that producers adopt water
management strategies that will help conserve this resource. This review aims to
update the information available on water use in swine production and to
suggest best management practices for conserving water in commercial swine
production facilities.

Why Pigs Need Water

Pigs obtain water from three sources; water contained in the feed, metabolic
water and water consumed by drinking. They need sufficient quantities of water
to maintain optimal production levels. Water is the single largest constituent of
the body, making up to 82 per cent of a young pig's and 55 per cent of market
hog body weight and is also a major component of secretions made by the pig,
e.g. milk and saliva.

The amount of water consumed by pigs varies depending on factors such as

quality of the water provided, diet composition, physiological status of the
animal, environmental conditions, social factors, and equipment design and
placement. Interactive effects of these factors may also influence water intake by
pigs. As a result, the recommended allowances of water for particular classes of
pigs differ markedly, because of limited information on the underlying
physiological mechanisms regulating water consumption and difficulties in
establishing the impact of some extrinsic factors, such as ambient temperature,
humidity, diet quality and quantity, frequency of provision, maintenance
conditions or stress.

Furthermore, the conventional methods for establishing nutrient

requirements cannot be applied directly to water since, in addition to the
requirements for tissue maintenance, body growth, foetus development or
lactation, the pig needs water in order to fulfill a number of other physiologically
significant functions, namely thermoregulation, mineral homeostasis, excretion
of metabolites and/or anti-nutritional substances, achievement of satiety and
behavioral purposes. Therefore, in practice, pigs are provided free access to
water.

Sources of Water for Commercial Park Production

Water for pork production in North America is derived from three main
sources namely, well (ground) water, surface (dug-out) water and pipeline water
(public supply).

Water quality from these sources varies as does their risks for contamination.
Surface water sources have the highest risk of microbial contamination and are
more likely to vary over time in mineral content, due to the contributions of run-
off and the concentrating effect of evaporation. The risk of contamination
declines progressively with cisterns, natural springs, shallow hand-dug or
Sandpoint wells (<50 ft), artesian wells, drilled wells, and public water supplies.
Although pigs can tolerate a wide range of water quality, there is no information
indicating use of recycled water for drinking purposes. Also, there is lack of
information on the proportions of the various sources (i.e. wells water, pipeline
water, dugouts) of water used in Manitoba hog operations.

The data shown in Table 2 provides a summary of nursery pig performance

when drinking surface (dug-out) water or pipeline water in a large commercial
facility. On the basis of this finding, and pending further research, it can be
concluded that surface water can be used effectively for nursery pig production.
As the use of surface water for pig production becomes increasingly important,
it is critical that its effect on animal performance be determined.

Table 2. Performance of nursery pigs fed surface or pipeline water for six weeks
post weaning.
 Surface water Pipeline (well) water
Avg. daily feed intake, g/d 552 549
Avg. daily gain, g/d 394 395
Feed conversion effeciency 1.36 1.41

Water Quality Effects on Pig Performance

Pigs require a supply of good quality water for optimal growth and production
performance. Performance indices such as mortality, feed intake, growth rates,
feed efficiency and most critically, profitability may be affected by the quality of
water provided.

When given poor quality water, pigs drink excess water, which in turn
increases slurry volume. This is undesirable because it adds to the growing
concern of manure disposal within the livestock industry and increases the cost
of applying manure on the land. Furthermore, because animals must excrete
any excess water consumed, their performance can suffer as energy, which could
otherwise be used for growth or production, is expended on water excretion.
Inadequate water intake as a result of poor quality is equally undesirable as it
can lead to poor performance.

In general, the presence of chemical elements and bacterial contamination

(including the specific type of bacteria) are the main factors that determine the
quality of water for swine.