QUALITY OF WELL WATER INTENDED FOR WATERING PIGS: ANALYSES OF BACTERIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND PESTICIDE CONTENT

Abstract

Water used for watering pigs, originating from five wells located in households in a settlement in Vojvodina, was inspected for its quality by the analysis of bacteriological parameters and pesticide content. Five samples were taken from each well at monthly intervals (n=25). In all water samples from three wells, coliform bacteria, including thermotolerant coliforms and Escherichia coli, indicators of faecal contamination, were repeatedly detected. In the water of all of the five wells organophosphate pesticides were detected, whose maximum allowed concentrations are not defined by the current Serbian Regulations on the quality of drinking water. Given the quantity of water consumed by pigs on a daily basis, water contaminated with coliform bacteria and organophosphate pesticides poses a risk to their health. Diminishing natural resources of drinking water and the growing environmental pollution, renders the assessment of the quality of water intended for domestic animals necessary as part of the integrated system of management in agricultural holdings.