[WATCH] Tappwater Tales #1: The importance of water quality for horses in Malta

RANSCRIPT: THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER QUALITY FOR HORSES IN MALTA

Video Title: The importance of water quality for horses in Malta
Uploader: Tappwater Malta
Speakers:
- Phil (Tappwater Malta)
- Laura (Equine Nutritionist, Balance EQ)

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Phil: So hello, here we are today with Laura from Balance EQ, and Laura is an equine nutritionist. Laura, what on earth does that mean?

Laura: Hi Phil. So as a nutritionist, I specialize in anything horse feed related, but also anything that could, in the management, affect the health of the horse. Very important for me is always the individual approach—looking at what your horse really needs and picking them up where they are right now.

Phil: And we did a collaboration with water. What on earth's that about? Now we're going to find out.

Laura: Exactly, a very significant one actually. An adult 500 kg horse that is in moderate work, for example, can drink between 40 and 60 liters of water a day, so it's one of the most fundamental nutrients that we can actually supply our horses with.

It's actually a quite funny little story. One of our own horses, Sergeant, when he was young, had a lot of issues with his gut—one being peritonitis, along with other issues which caused diarrhea, a very upset stomach, and also quite frequent colic-like symptoms. So we were exploring how we could adjust his management to help him better. And since water is so essential—even for gut motility, for health, for the stomach lining, and various other processes within a horse's body—we came to look also at the water quality.

We were still at a different place, and the water was supplied by a cistern, and we noticed that the smell was definitely there. So my husband actually looked into ways of how we could fix it. We came up with Tappwater, and from there we tried it with a previous model, and the results were really good. It wasn't a wonder cure-all, but it definitely helped protect his stomach that was already irritated. He was on a lot of medication, so it was really important to help his stomach stay relaxed so that at least he could feel better and heal properly.

Phil: Sure.

Laura: So we have here a private barn. We are using water coming from a cistern, and we are filling our water buckets from a tap. We have four of our six horses which were able to enjoy the Tappwater filtered water, and we were basically looking mainly at voluntary water intake, meaning how much they were willing to drink.

We are now in the middle of summer, so it's the perfect timing really to go about it. Now, of course, hydration is more important than ever. We also looked at how much water they were taking in, as well as the flow rate. How is the Tappwater Inline Pro to handle in everyday use? And any other things that we could really notice in the horses, such as their willingness to approach the water bucket once it was refilled.

There was really the water quality itself—there's no smell, there's no residue on the buckets. We also noticed that the algae growth is much lower than it was previously, speaking to the fact that the filtration, especially regarding nitrate for example, is very efficient, as algae basically grow and eat from those nitrates.

Another thing that I really loved is that as soon as we were filling the water buckets in the morning, the horses were all very eager to come and have a fresh sip. They could barely wait until we removed the pipe, so that was really lovely to see. Again, hydration is so important for horses in many ways, one of them also being, especially now in summer, the risk of impaction colic. So we were very happy to see that.

And overall, we also noticed that there was no difference in flow rate, which I found very impressive because usually, especially with four to six horses here, it is very important that we obviously manage everything in a timely manner. We used to have situations where we really needed about 45 minutes to fill all buckets. Now here, in this specific place, there was an Inline Pro, and there is absolutely no issue; we didn't notice any extended time period for us to fill the water buckets. So management-wise, that's also really lovely.

I think just about every... whether you're on a municipal supply, or you're using a cistern, or any other groundwater related water source, the Inline Pro is a really good choice. For one, the filter really lasts a long time, with a volume of 20,000 liters, which was one of the reasons why I was so curious to try out the Inline Pro. The other one is also that it is very easy to install.

And as we've already discussed, Phil, it is not only for barns that rely on a tap system where you fill water buckets—this would also be really a good solution for anybody using automatic drinkers. And I think overall, really, any horse—whether it be a retired racehorse, a competition horse, or pony—any horse could really benefit from improved water quality.

And we have a lot of challenges here in Malta, not just in the summer, but in general. One being with municipal supplies, for example: you have aging piping, you have plumbing that is not the freshest anymore, and you have chlorine in the water. Then when you look at cistern water, you have other environmental issues as well, such as obviously maintenance in the first place. Then you also have environmental factors such as agricultural runoffs, which also introduce a lot of nitrates. And also, iron, copper, lead, and other substances within the water are known to actually cause, over a long time, issues such as anemia, damage to the red blood cells, as well as also issues related to liver health.

If there's one thing I would like you to take away from this collaboration, it is that it's not only important to monitor how much water your horse is drinking, but also the quality of the water, because it can make a real difference in their health, in their longevity, and in their wellbeing.