18/ SEPTEMBER 2011 THE RIDER THE WAY OF HORSES: Disinfecting Water Tanks


problems…the horses just didn’t like the smell or taste. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined the upper level of chlorine in drinking water at which no adverse health effects are likely to occur is 4 parts per million (ppm). (I like their use of “likely”.) I doubt if anything would drink the water at that level of chlo- rine anyway.


It turns out the giardia protozoa, which causes diarrhea, can be inacti- vated by chlorine at a level of one part per million 45 minutes after being added.


The EPA does not consider stomach upset or temporary irritation of the mucous membrane as “adverse”. I guess it depends if it’s them or us!


http://water.epa.gov/drink/contami- nants/basicinformation/disinfectants.c fm


I did some math and determined


By Eleanor Blazer Copyright @ 2011


please.” Sox. “I’d like my water with a lemon slice,


I looked at Kruzer and told him, “No, we’re not doing that any more.”


Under protest he went off to chase


Last week we had a 3,500 gallon water storage tank installed. The tank will give us piece of mind during the frequent droughts in south Texas. If the well goes dry we’ll have time to find water, have it hauled in and the tank refilled.


the ppm level in our tank was around 1.4. Would this amount even do any- thing beneficial?


An interesting side note – the chlorine level recommended for swimming pools is between two and three parts per million. A test kit for determining chlorine levels in swim- ming pools is handy for checking lev- els in drinking water.


If you think the water source is contaminated with microorganisms, organic or inorganic minerals; contact your health department.


The American Red Cross recom- mends boiling a gallon of contaminat- ed water for a full minute, cooling it for 30 minutes and then treating it with 16 drops of 5.25% - 6% non- scented chlorine bleach (eight drops per 2-liter bottle). I conducted an experiment and tested this concentra- tion with a pool test kit. The chlorine level was three (3) parts per million. Pretty strong!


But all this interesting informa- tion was not getting the horses to drink!


“You can lead a horse to water, but can’t make him drink”…especial- ly if there is chlorine in it!


I discovered that letting water sit uncovered for several hours allowed


the chlorine to leach out. Pouring water back and forth also helps dissi- pate the chlorine.


Why do restaurants put a slice of lemon in your class of water? It’s to kill the chlorine taste! The acid in the lemon helps dissipate the chlorine and masks the taste and smell.


store for lemons. I filled water buck- ets and set them out in the sun. While I waited, I poured water from one bucket to another.


So Don made a quick trip to the


After washing and slicing the lemons we found several of the horses didn’t care for lemons either, but with


Continued on Page 19


Under normal conditions the well will keep the tank filled, which then feeds the house, barn and pastures. But before we could use water from the new tank it had to be chlorinated. The interior of the tank may have been dirty from the manufactur- ing process.


The contractor put two cups of regular household bleach in the tank. Within hours the horses were refusing to drink – not good during record setting heat.


Luckily I had emergency water in the horse trailer tank. I also called Sport’s “mother” and she brought some water. But the emergency water was not going to last long and Karla wouldn’t be able to haul enough water for seven horses.


The amount of chlorine in the tank was not enough to cause long term health


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