Aqua Color - Poultry Water Sensor

Research of de Gezondheidsdienst voor Dieren (GD), a "Dutch health service organization for animals" resulted in following findings:

• 34% of all drinking water for poulty in The Netherlands is of moderate to bad quality at the drinking points in the water lines.
• An average infection with fungi and yeasts at a farm with 30.000 hens results in annual cost of about 12.000 euro.
• An average bacteriological infection at a farm of 28.800 chickens results in additional cost of about 2.100 euro per round.

In practice, many factors play a role in the health of poultry and of course there is no such thing as an "average round". In some rounds, the poultry is healthier than in others and differences are often caused by coincidence. However, the the R&D figures of the GD leave no doubt that the infection pressure of poultry in farms can be deminished considerably by ensuring good drinking water quality. This finding, together with the societal issue of an increasing presence of antibiotic resistant micro-organisms in people and environment, underlines the need of good hygiene in cattle farming

How does the Aqua Color Poultry Sensor work?

The Aqua Color Pluimveesensor is a development of Aqua Color Sensors and based on an idea of poultry farmer Frank Akkerman and his farming experience of many years. By placing an Aqua Color Sensor in the water line, the water quality can be monitored continuously. The sensor in the water line measures the drinking water quality and passes the measured value on to the steering unit on the left hand side of the picture. If the LED lights green, the water quality is good. As soon as the LED starts blinking while it lights red, the water line needs to be flushed. When the LED lights red continuously, the water is severely contaminated. In case the waterline is flushed as soon as the LED starts blinking, it can usually be cleaned with just water. In case the waterline is not flused within 2 - 3 days, the risk of biofilm formation in the waterline increases rapidly so that it may be required to clean the waterline with chemicals instead of water.

Automatic flush functionality of the Aqua Color Poultry Sensor
In cooperation with Impex B.V., Aqua Color Sensors has added an optional relay functionality to the poultry sensor for steering the Impex flush computer. This way, it is possible to automatically clean the water lines in case of fouling.