As an Extension Educator with Penn State I spend my winter on the speaking circle handle grower and farmers on a variety of topics . One of the many talks that I cover deals with irrigation piss quality and its impact on both plant growth and pesticide efficaciousness . Before I start into my presentation , I often ask the interview to lift their hands and indicate if they have had their irrigation body of water tested in the last year . Typically , about 10 % of the audience has had their piddle test in the retiring yr with another 5 % indicating that they have had their piss test within the past 3 years . While at face time value , this may not be alarming , but if you are in the business of growing flora and hold harvest protectant chemistries an intellect of your water quality is decisive to the success and profitableness of your functioning .
by Thomas Ford
When I guess out to chat farm or greenhouses , I carry with me a pH cadence , a conductivity or EC m , an alkalinity titrator , and alkalinity test airstrip . If a grower tells me that they think they have a nutriment problem , I first ask the grower if they have had a late water trial conducted , and if they do n’t , I make a beeline to their spigot to judge the timber of their water supply beginning . I calibrate my meter first and then I check the pH and the EC ( Electrical Conductivity ) of the clear water . If the water pH is high , I typically surmise that the grower will be employing some form of acid injectant to reduce the pH of his irrigation water . If the EC of the clear water is high , I become greatly concerned , because a high EC could suggest that route saltiness has infiltrated the aquifer or that the well is being contaminated via salt locked in the nautical deposit that surround the ground water . In rarefied case , the salts are infiltrating into the well due to lifelike gas exploration and/or historic gas and/or oil drilling .
Elevated piddle pH is rather well-off to deal with via acid injectant , but if the EC is very gamy the agriculturist / James Leonard Farmer is left with very few alternatives that can be used to mitigate this issue . rearward osmosis is the most expensive , but it is often sizing limiting . overturn osmosis systems are consider monetary value effective for small specialty propagators , but as the size of it of the cognitive operation increase the costs become extremely prohibitory . If a known water source with a small EC is available , a raiser can either espouse it as their sole body of water rootage or blend it with the high EC water to provide irrigation water with satisfactory water timber . ofttimes little growers will pick up rain off their b and roofs into cisterns from which they will pass / blend their piss to reduce the EC of their existing water source . Rainwater typically has a very low EC , no alkalinity , and a small pH. The only concern with rainwater as an irrigation water generator lie in with its purpose on edible crops due to possible E. coli or Salmonella concerns . Birds oftentimes perch on the roofs and the excrement that they leave behind will desegregate with the rain and drain into the cistern create a possible food refuge risk .
In some position , a grower may have no refuge but to drill a fresh well , utilize a nearby pond or watercourse , or connect into a public piss source . Drilling a new well however , may not be an acceptable solution if you are dispense with significant water quality issues . In my area , a grower was made cognizant that his well , pond , and spring contained raised spirit level of atomic number 11 and chloride and that the EC level was over 2.3 m / S. A hydrogeologist was consulted to review the local geology of the area and it was define that while the grower would be drilling into a limestone aquifer , the likelihood of finding body of water with similar or worse water lineament was significant . The grower then looked at piping water from the creek a quartern sea mile off , before at long last deciding to connect to public water . The usage of the public water system was not free of issues , but it provided the sure upshot for a grower intent on grow floriculture crop and greenhouse tomatoes .
Before purchase a parcel of res publica to induct a horticultural operation , have all of your water sources evaluated . If the testing reveals that there are water quality concerns , consult with a expert on your treatment options and see if treatment is toll effective . If the water timber problem can not be cost effectively make , take walking aside from the table and depend for a new opus of property to situate your operation .
The water test results illustrate below are from a PA grower who ignore the advice to walk away from the table and to fend off purchasing a property . By ignoring this advice he had no recourse but to connect to public H2O . Here is a snapshot of his irrigation pee quality . Everything in bold case is a causal agent for concern for the owner / grower :
While the above water test is alarming , this grower knew what he was get into and decided that the merits of the holding ( location ) outweighed the price of treatment . As we move several weeks into the greenhouse product year call for yourself , “ Have checked your irrigation piss quality recently ?
Source : eGRO Blog
