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  Discussion on Too much Iron in water
Author Message
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2003 - 12:56 pm:

Can anyone tell me if they know if a horse's water can have too much iron?? I board my horse at a place with well water. Growing up on a farm myself-I knew the water should not be brown. The owner said it is just iron in the water & not to worry about it. I am getting a sample to have tested but need to know how much iron is safe for them to drink. Right now I am hauling water from home. But I am concerned about this water too as it is city water. He is drinking it fine. Any help would be great. Thanks in advance
Debby
Member:
Westks

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2003 - 1:18 pm:

as far as i know iron would only be a problem if you are feeding iron fortified feed
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2003 - 1:28 pm:

JANETTE
ok thanks. I am having it tested to make sure water is safe. I never had to give my horse brown water. You can hardly see through it. It is only to the barn so I know owner has another well. His water is clear.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Nov 27, 2003 - 10:34 am:

You can read more about iron and iron toxicity at » Care for Horses » Nutrition » Minerals and Nutrition.
DrO
Member:
Tkranch

Posted on Friday, Nov 28, 2003 - 4:44 pm:

Is the barn old? Sometimes the discolored water is just from old pipes. Especially if they are used infrequently. Water will sit in them and rust will accumulate. Just let it run till it clears up...sometimes it can take awhile, esp if the line is long. If it is just in a few stalls maybe it is because they haven't been used much. Just a thought.
New Member:
Christos

Posted on Sunday, Nov 30, 2003 - 4:34 pm:

You are doing well to have water of ANY colour tested, mainly for heavy minerals. Toxic iron concentrations in water are extremely unlikely. Concetrations above 0,3mg/liter compromise its palatability for horses, so you are probably on the safe side since you report your horse drinking it normally.
Full details at www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/HOR/99-49.pdf
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Monday, Dec 1, 2003 - 9:55 am:

Kat-
The barn is 20 years old but is a boarding barn (10 horses). They have new water in their buckets everyday. The water started getting brown since Feb. We had the well cleaned & dug a little deeper. The first bucket or two are clean after that it it brown. The well is right outside the barn so pipes only go a few feet. We have tried to let water run but it is still brown?? Thanks for the help though.

Christos-
We are having the water tested-just waiting for the results. The water my horse is drinking is what I have been bringing from home not the well water. I don't want to take any chances if there is a problem. As I mentioned in my orginal post my concern was the water I am giving him now is city water so it is treated. That is why I am having the well water checked. Thanks for the article. I am going to read it now.

Dr. O
I Will post what the results are as soon as I get them. Thank you for all your help
Debby
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Dec 1, 2003 - 6:56 pm:

We will try and work out if it is safe or not.
DrO
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 2, 2003 - 11:03 am:

Dr O
Still waiting to find out final results of water but have found this much out so far.

Ca= 5.71ppm
Fe= 1.03ppm
Mg+ 34.1 ppm
Na= 232.0 ppm these are the high ones

I was advised by the comapany doing the test- "do not give well water it may contain stuff from the mines and run off which is why sulfurs and irons are high."

I will send you the rest of the results. They are runing test on what was filtered off with filter paper before they could even do the test.
I hope to have complete results today. Thank you so much for your time.
Debby
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2003 - 7:44 am:

The levels do not even look that high to me certainly none approaching a toxic levels. The question is what does the company mean by "stuff from the mines"? Are there toxins commonly found in your area that are not being tested for that iron and sulfur are markers for?
DrO
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2003 - 5:12 pm:

Dr O
Here are our test results. Can't upload the file is too large. I will e-mail them to you.

I will be waiting to see what you think of the horses drinking this water. The testing Company think it is not safe levels?? The water is a dark brown color. Not quite coffee colored? Thank you for you thoughts. I am very concerned about them having this water. I have been bringing water from home. This is city water. Would it be a better choice?
Thanks again
Debby
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 3, 2003 - 5:20 pm:

Dr O
Don't know how to get the info to you. The company just gave me 2 pages copied with the results. They are too big to post & you don't have an e-mail address. Can you tell me which results are most important & I can tyoe them in here?
Sorry for being a pain.
Debby
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Dec 4, 2003 - 7:00 am:

Debby you will find our email address in the Help: Contacting Us but frankly I have a constant email backup and response comes much quicker here. If you have the results formatted for email, why not just cut and paste the results here?

I don't believe I would feed water to my horses that was close to the color of coffee.
DrO
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Thursday, Dec 4, 2003 - 2:23 pm:

Dr O
I emailed you the water results as it wouldn't let me cut & paste to a post. I have been giving city water from home to the horses. I thought it is the better of the two choices. I will be getting a filter system as soon as we find out what kind we need. Thanks for taking the time to look over the reults
Debby
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Dec 11, 2003 - 6:28 am:

Debby I still have not received this email.
DrO
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Sunday, Dec 14, 2003 - 7:08 pm:

Dr. O
I re emailed it to you from my netscape account. I also mailed it in regular mail. I couldn't get it to open inside of the email letter. I guess the company does that so you can't get someone else to look at their work. Thanks for your time & energy.
Thanks alot.
Debby
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Dec 15, 2003 - 5:55 am:

I tried opening the second document without success Debby. I guess I will see it when it gets here.
DrO
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Dec 22, 2003 - 9:02 am:

Debbie what do these mean on the report:
Line, Avg (average what?), Stddev (standard deviation of what?), %RSD, #1, #2.
DrO
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Saturday, Jan 3, 2004 - 4:56 pm:

Dr O
I was in a car accident the 19th of December. I will get back to you asap. Thanks for your time.
Debby
Member:
Hwood

Posted on Saturday, Jan 3, 2004 - 5:09 pm:

Debby . . . you must have had a rough Christmas. So glad you are able to still type . . . hope you are recovering well and that you have plenty of support from family and friends.
Best to you in 2004.
Holly
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Sunday, Jan 4, 2004 - 2:08 am:

Take care of yourself, Deb.
Member:
Gr82bme

Posted on Friday, Feb 27, 2004 - 9:33 am:

Holly & Elizabeth
Thank you for your kind words. I am finally able to sit here & type. I am still in Therapy but at least mobile. LOL

Dr. O
Here is what I found out about the tests:
Our standards for running the machine are a base line. So for us the machine is zeroed out and if the paper work says that there is 1.03 ppm of iron in the water that is what the machine is picking up from that water sample. I hope this isn't confusing.

If it is don't worry about it. I am giving him well water from a friend. Hauling it everyday is a pain but it is better than him getting sick. Thanks for your help Dr. O
New Member:
mlcralle

Posted on Thursday, May 21, 2009 - 10:24 pm:

I too have a problem with iron in the water (not as bad as what I read here). Is it possible to flush out my horses' kidneys every few months to clear up any iron accumulation? What would I use and how often?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, May 22, 2009 - 8:53 am:

Welcome Mary Lou,
Do you know what the iron levels are? I have never heard of iron accumulation in the kidneys.
DrO
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