Water disinfection made easier for this pig farmer

Jan-Willem Pater from Harskamp runs a livestock farm with 3500 fattening pigs and an additional 100 cattle. Water quality is important, agrees Jan-Willem. He makes every effort to invest in good, clean drinking water for his cattle.

Investing in water quality

"I didn't have that many problems on my farm. Neither with the water nor with the animals. But water I think is a very important aspect." begins Pater his story. "We always took water samples for the IKB, and it was actually always very good. Water quality on the farm is very important. It is therefore good to invest in it. After all, the quality can always improve." Previously, Jan-Willem used acids to disinfect the water. "This cost quite a lot. I currently have two locations, and at this location I did consider using acids, but I still opted for the Watter system." About how he was approached by Watter, Jan-Willem tells the following: "I was called by Watter if I was interested in the system, and then a representative came to inform me about Watter. I then bought the system immediately, as I was confident enough that the system would add value to my business."

Dark brown goo like Coke from the pipes

"There are many factors that make it difficult to determine whether the animals are doing better," states Pater. "Something where we did notice a clear difference is the pipes. We have quite a pipe network, with one pipe being as long as 150 to 160 metres. A situation played out for two years that when you didn't use the pipe, a goo as dark brown as Coke came out. So there was quite a bit of filth in the pipes which then came loose. Since Watter, we no longer experience this and these pipes are nice and clean."

Ease of use and cost-saving

For Jan-Willem, the Watter system has mainly been an enrichment in ease of use. At the same time, he says the system is also cost-saving. "The Watter system is definitely an investment, but the value for me is the ease of use and that it saves in costs. The cost of acid is always disappointing after a few years. The salt for the Watter machine is good value and you do a long time with it. For some this is more important than others, but for me it makes it well worth the investment." Pater made a good trade-off between his previous and current ways of disinfecting: "You have to think carefully about what you are doing, especially with the acids. There are a lot of ongoing costs involved, where Watter is a one-off cost that you can write off. It might be a big cost all at once, but after that time you have very little cost."

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