Sulfate occurs naturally in groundwater. Concerns regarding the health effects from sulfate in drinking water have been raised because of reports that diarrhea may be associated with water that contains high levels of sulfate. In the livestock production industry, there is a concern that high levels of sulfate in water can adversely affect productivity. Different methods can be used to remove sulfate from water. Proven technologies are ion-exchange, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and electrodialysis. A few earlier studies have shown that the use of bentonite/kaolinite for sulfate removal has produced encouraging results. Experimental work was undertaken to examine in detail the feasibility of such processes. Laboratory studies using bentonite showed poor or no removal in the case of high sulfate water. Ion exchange and nanofiltration were found to be very effective in removing sulfate. Ion exchange is likely to be more reliable than nanofiltration because of the sensitivity of the nanofiltration process to total dissolved solids and biofouling.
In western Canada, dugouts are the primary source of water for beef cattle during the summer months. Over time, drought conditions and/or direct access by grazing animals have a negative effect on water constituents and overall water quality. A study was conducted to determine the effects of improvements in water quality on cattle performance. The effect of pasture water quality on weight gain of beef cattle was assessed with 44 Hereford yearling steers over 5 years and 40 Angus cow–calf pairs over 3 years. From 1999 to 2003, cattle were allocated to 1 of 4 treatments, which comprised untreated dugout water pumped to a trough, aerated water pumped to a trough, and coagulated and chlorinated water pumped to a trough, all compared with direct access by livestock to the water source. Data were collected on livestock weight gains, water consumption, fecal parasites, environmental conditions, water chemistry, biological constituents, and forage production and quality. Water treatment by aeration or coagulation tended to improve steer weight gains (P < 0.05) over untreated water from a dugout in 3 of 5 years. Daily weight gains tended to be improved slightly by simply pumping water to a trough without treatment. Water aerated and pumped to a trough in early summer tended to produce greater (P < 0.05) weight gains in calves than those drinking directly from the dugout. The effect of treatment on improving cattle weight gains appeared to be related to improved water palatability, which increased water and feed consumption. Water chemistry and biological constituents analysed did not identify significant differences among treatments. These results suggest that improving water quality with aeration and pumping to a trough will improve weight gain 9–10% over a 90-day grazing period in most years.
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