3 Crucial Benefits Water Testing Labs Bring to Agricultural Producers

The quality of water that you use for agricultural purposes should never be compromised since it directly affects the health of your livestock and crops. Water treatment labs help agriculturalists to reap the most out of their efforts by primarily improving the quality of water used for irrigation and livestock consumption.

Here are a few useful explanations related to why you should employ the services of a water testing lab.

Broad range of tests suited for every agricultural need

Water testing labs can perform an extensive range of tests to check the suitability of water for livestock intake and irrigation. Bacterial contamination can reduce water consumption in animals and deteriorate crop production due to reduced soil fertility.

Single tests or a series of tests can be used to determine the levels of dissolved solids, alkalinity, mineral salts and other impurities that may make the water bad for agricultural use. For instance, individual water tests can be conducted to detect specific elements such as faecal coliform bacteria, which may result from water-borne pathogens found in animal faeces.

Boost efforts to use reclaimed water resources

Water reclamation is something that a lot of today's agricultural producers are accustomed to, especially those operating in areas that receive little amounts of rainfall. However, there are several factors that you must think through before using reclaimed or recycled water for farming purposes. For farm animals, these factors may range from the safety of water for consumption to aesthetic concerns such as the taste and odour of the water.

For greenhouse crops, you may have to consider factors such as alkalinity and presence of soluble salts, which may affect soil fertility. This way, water testing labs will boost your water conservation efforts without reducing your agricultural output.

Extend the service life of your agricultural equipment

The presence of solid deposits in water can cause your agricultural equipment to break down frequently and thus results in huge repair costs in the long term. That's why it is important to take out suspended solids such as soil, weeds and algae from the water to prevent blocking of piping, nozzles, valves and emitters in your irrigation equipment.

Even underground water, which is often considered to be clean, may constitute fine grains of sand. All these are examples of deposits that can be effectively removed from the water through filtration so that your water-using agricultural equipment such as irrigation equipment can operate well as expected and for a long time.