Nowadays, we hear the term circular farming more and more, but actually few people can verbalize what it really means. It is a more sustainable way of farming and is mostly used as a catch-all term with many possibilities.
What is circular farming?
The main principle of circular agriculture is to waste little and re-use more. It minimises emissions of harmful substances, contributes to the improvement of biodiversity and is as thoughtful as possible in its use of raw materials and energy. The cycles are closed. Examples of circular agriculture include giving local residual flows to the animals, or reusing the animals' manure to grow crops. It is a farmer's search for a new way of farming with the least possible impact on climate, environment and nature.
Surface water quality
To encourage circular farming, it is advised to get drinking water from the ditch, provided the ambient water is of good quality. And precisely this quality is difficult for the livestock farmer to ensure, let alone guarantee. Our experience shows that using surface water carries unforeseen risks. Think of plant protection products or, for instance, emissions and waste water from surrounding factories. There are also microbiological dangers, especially when it gets warmer. Is the water mainly stagnant? How much bacterial growth is present and does it include pathogenic bacteria? Microbiologist Eva emphasises, ‘Caution is needed when using surface water as drinking water for animals in agriculture; water quality, both chemical and microbiological, requires regular monitoring.’ Is it found during this check that there is a lot of microbiological contamination in the water? Then add a disinfection step to the treatment process to still allow the water to be used safely.
Ditch water disinfection
Livestock farmers depend on good-quality drinking water to keep their animals healthy. At Jan and Meindert Leijenaar's farm, surface water is also used. This ditch water originally contained Salmonella. The gentlemen state, ‘We had not previously checked the water in the drinking trough. A measurement showed that there were a good number of germs in the water and the drinking water was unfit.’ They considered several methods to disinfect the water and deliberately ended up with Watter.
Sustainable disinfectant
While traditional disinfectants may be effective in disinfecting ditch water, these harmful chemicals carry many risks. Also, these disinfectants are not cycle-proof. Watter has a sustainable disinfection solution based on water, salt and electricity, all renewable resources.This forms a disinfectant with HOCl as the active ingredient. The concentration of our agent can be kept low, while it has the same biocidal effect as a traditional agent. It is therefore an excellent alternative to these traditional disinfectants and can be used for various applications.
Do you also want to start circular farming and are you curious if Watter could be a solution for your polluted surface water? Feel free to contact us for advice on your drinking water and get informed by our microbiologists.