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 Water characteristics
change effectiveness of teat disinfectants
Mixing teat
disinfectant isn’t rocket science, but if you want to kill the bacteria that
cause mastitis, the water quality used is critical. Alkalinity, hardness,
organic matter and chlorine content, all alter bacterial killing power.
How do these
factors make a difference?
-
Alkalinity
greater than 500 parts per million reduces the concentration of available
iodine. So alkalinity is an issue, if your disinfectant is iodine-based.
-
Hard
water causes chlorhexidine to form insoluble salts. The disinfectant will
start losing its effectiveness at 20 parts per million and will be
completely useless at 200 parts per million.
-
Chlorinated
water can form an insoluble salt with chlorhexidine, so it’s best to avoid
using this as well.
-
Organic
matter also reduces the effectiveness of iodine, chlorhexidine and
hydrolysed linseed products. Water used to mix all disinfectants should have
no colour, sediment, suspended solids or smell.
Water quality
varies greatly around Australia, containing differing levels of suspended matter
(such as decaying plants, algae, clay, and bacteria), minerals and dissolved
gases.
Many milking
machine and chemical suppliers, veterinarians and other advisers have access to
test kits to assess the suitability of the water you are planning to use for
making up teat disinfectants. Regular testing is advised, especially when there
are changes to source or quality of the water.
If the water
quality available at the dairy is not adequate, consider purchasing a
ready-to-use product or using an alternative water supply, such as distilled
water, de-ionised water or potable water from the farm-house.
Length:
259 words
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caption: none
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