Nitrate and Bacterial Loads in Dairy Cattle Drinking Water and Potential Treatment Options for Pollutants—A Review

The impacts of dairy farm manure production on the environment and surrounding ecosystems in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and eutrophication are frequently studied and discussed, but the implications for the dairy cattle themselves that drink water predominantly sourced from surrounding groundwater commonly polluted with nitrates and bacteria from manure and surrounding crop fertilization applications are not often prioritized. This study reviews and synthesizes relevant literature connecting groundwater pollution—in terms of nitrates and bacteria—as it relates to water quality for dairy cattle consumption and the health and milk production implications and outlines pre-existing treatment and prevention options for nitrates and bacteria in conventional applications as well and the status of treatment options for dairy cattle drinking water specifically. After evaluating potential treatment options, point-of-use filtration is identified as a possible low-cost and customizable treatment option for treating dairy cattle drinking water with advantages, potential disadvantages, and filtration media options discussed. Additionally, the need for further research and testing to determine the capacity in field-scale applications is identified.