Empfehlungen zur Beurteilung der hygienischen Qualität von Tränkwasser für Lebensmittel liefernde Tiere unter Berücksichtigung der gegebenen rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen

To provide drinking water in sufficient amounts and with appropriate quality is - in addition to an adequate supply of energy and essential nutrients by feed - a decisive precondition for maintaining animals' health and performance as well as food quality and safety. Initially, based on regulatory framework, origin and quality of drinking water are specified, whereby a special emphasis is put on biological as well as physico-chemical contaminants. Further, aspects of sampling (necessary for the control) and the evaluation of quality parameters are layed down in detail. Finally mayor impacts on water intake of animals are summarized and equations to predict water consumption of food producing animals are listed. The main conclusions taken here are: drinking water should be available for animals at all times, palatability of water is of major importance, the compromising of animals' health, technical equipment in barns as well as food quality in anyway by lacks in the quality of drinking water has to be avoided and finally drinking water should be of suitable quality not only when entering the watering system, but also at the time when consumed by animals. In various tables, guidelines for values to evaluate drinking water quality are given. At the beginning of June 2007, the German ministry of food, agriculture and consumers' protection (BMELV) made the current draft of relevant orientation guidelines to evaluate the quality of drinking water available to the federal states and businesses in the Federal Republic of Germany