Hello,
I am searching for a resource on best practices on ensuring water quality for irrigation of crops. What kind of testing do you recommend to ...
Knowledgebase
Water safety for crop irrigation #890008
Asked November 18, 2024, 2:59 PM EST
Hello,
I am searching for a resource on best practices on ensuring water quality for irrigation of crops. What kind of testing do you recommend to ensure this water is "clean" to be used for my edible plants?
Site Information:
Water is from a 6300 sqft pond (max 13ft deep) with plans of a hand pump.
Pond is a wildlife pond with consistent presence of various reptiles/amphibians/fish/plants etc.. no noticeable change in populations or kills.
Vegetation is kept wild within 4ft of the pond to help with erosion.
Pond has seasonal application of treatments for algae and invasive plants- all chemicals used are marked safe for irrigation in literature provided from service company.
Pond fills naturally through rain and runoff from property. Water levels stay fairly consistent year round they are slow to fall and slow to rise. The most notable change being this past summer during the drought where levels dropped a maximum of 1 ft.
Thank you!
Medina CountyOhio
Expert Response
Thank you for reaching out to Ask Extension with your question about best practices on ensuring water quality to irrigate crops. This is a very good question. Here's what I found out.
Here is a link from Penn State with information about the pond environmental perameters for maintaining a healthy pond.
This next document gives you the process for testing the pond. Although it talks about wells, the same can be applied to a pond. This document also has a link for a testing kit.
I called the Department of Health for Medina County and was told that it is $95 for you to have your pond tested for ecoli. Their number is 330.723.9688.
I hope this helps you in your decision to use your pond for irrigation. Please write back if you have any further questions or need additional information.
