Ecological and toxicological screening of the safety of drinking water for livestock enterprises of Odesa region

Our scientific and industrial research aimed to determine tap water's safety for watering productive animals (cows, goats, sheep) in three different livestock enterprises of the Odesa region. By using the microbiological method - ecological-toxicological express biotesting (with the help of the preparation of test organisms of the dry culture of ciliates Colpoda steinii), it was determined that among 106 samples of tap water for watering animals, an average of 65.62 received a rating of “general weak toxicity”; 67.01 and 64.88 % of the samples, respectively, for each farm (P < 0.001, which highlighted the problem of the unsatisfactory quality of drinking tap water for dairy cattle. A trend was established to increase the indicator of weak toxicity of drinking water in enterprises by +0.22–4.33 % during the year in each farm (P < 0.001). Determination of the comprehensive indicator of the quality of tap water for watering animals (farm No. 3) by express analysis of samples by the TDS - metric method showed that the level of mineralization of untreated drinking water exceeded recommended norms in 27.65 and 31.17 times (in 2023 and 2024, respectively, (P < 0.001), and samples of water purified on the “ECOSOFT-6500” line were within the recommended norms of high-quality drinking water: on average 35.63–33.59 mg/l, respectively (P < 0.001). The analysis of experimental comparative data and literature sources showed the need for further studies on the quality and safety of water for watering productive animals to optimize the management of safe water supply and obtain organic livestock products.