| Performance goal: Treatment achieves optimal water salinity for bird health and scale minimisation. |
|---|
| Description: TDS consist of inorganic salts and small amounts of organic matter that are dissolved in water, including: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulphate, bicarbonate, carbonate, silica, organic matter, fluoride, iron, manganese, nitrate, nitrite and phosphates. Although TDS is not generally considered a primary contaminant (e.g. no meat chicken health effects directly attributable to TDS), it is used as an aesthetic indication of drinking water characteristics, and as an aggregate indicator of the presence of a broad array of chemical contaminants. High TDS can reduce the palatability of drinking water. It can also increase the disinfectant demand of water and contributes to biofilms. |
| Performance criteria: Optimal water salinity levels are maintained and scale accumulation is minimised. Best practice levels: TDS 0–1000mg/L, potassium 0–300mg/L, sodium 0–32mg/L, chloride 0–14mg/L Maximum acceptable levels: TDS 0–3000mg/L, potassium 0–500mg/L, sodium 0–150mg/L, chloride 0–150mg/L, fluoride 0–2mg/L |
| Minimum requirements |
| Measure TDS weekly. |
| Measure potassium, sodium, chloride and fluoride annually. |
| Best practice options |
| Nutritionist considers salinity concentrations in the water when formulating diets. |
| If concentrations are above maximum acceptable levels, a pre-treatment to lower salts is applied to drinking water. See Table 15 (below) for a comparison of the effectiveness of pre-treatments against salinity. |
Table 15. Effectiveness of pre-treatments against salinity
| Effectiveness against salinity | TDS | Potassium | Sodium | Chloride | Fluoride |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-treatment | |||||
| PP filter | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ceramic filter | – | – | – | – | – |
| Pleated filter | – | – | – | – | – |
| Rapid sand filters | – | – | – | – | – |
| Semi-rapid sand filters | – | – | – | – | – |
| Slow sand filters | – | – | – | – | – |
| Centrifugal filtration | – | – | – | – | – |
| PAC | – | – | – | – | – |
| GAC | – | – | – | – | – |
| BAC | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ion-exchange resins | MH | MH | MH | MH | MH |
| Chemical coagulates | – | – | – | – | – |
| Lime softening | – | – | – | – | – |
| Chemical oxidation | – | – | – | – | – |
| Reverse osmosis | H | H | H | H | H |
| Nanofiltration | M | M | M | M | M |
| Ultrafiltration | L | L | L | L | L |
| Microfiltration | L | L | L | L | L |
| Electrodialysis | MH | MH | MH | MH | MH |
| Electrodialysis reversal | MH | MH | MH | MH | MH |
| Capacitive deionisation | MH | MH | MH | MH | MH |
| Membrane capacitive deionisation | MH | MH | MH | MH | MH |
| Aeration | – | – | – | – | – |
| Electronic water conditioning | – | – | – | – | – |
| L: low, LM: low to moderate, M: moderate, MH: moderate to high, H: high, –: N/A | |||||
