Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi 1. Uluslararası Tarımsal Yapılar ve Sulama Kongresi Özel Sayısı:290-294, 2018 ISSN 1304-9984, Araştırma Makalesi 290 Assessment of Water Usage and Consumption of Livestock Enterprises in Bursa Region Seyit UGUZ 1 Apti ONUK 1 Ercan SIMSEK 1 Uludag University, Faculty of Agriculture, Biosystems Engineering Department, Isparta/Türkiye Responsible author: seyit@uludag.edu.tr The arrival date:06.08.2018 Acceptance date: 30/11/2018 Abstract: Today, it is necessary to be more careful in water usage due to increased pollution in ground water and negative effects of climatic conditions on water resources. Farmers engaged in animal husbandry should enable to obtain drinking and utility water for animals by easily, in a healthy and economical way, and farmer’s awareness of water consumption should be increased. In this study, the annual water consumption of the animal barns was determined according to the animal existence in the Bursa region. According to TUIK 2017 data, there are 201 288 head cattle, 472467 head small sheep and approximately 1.3 million head poultry in Bursa province, and their total annual water requirement is 8.65 million m 3 . There is 44% increased on water consumption from animal production compared to 2007. In this study, the amounts of annual water demand of 4 different dairy cattle operations with 20, 50, 100 and 200 head capacities have been calculated because water has an important effect on milk yield especially in dairy cattle. The water consumption of these enterprises was respectively 648 m 3 , 1620 m3, 3240 m 3 and 6480 m 3 per year. The annual drinking and utility water costs of the enterprises are calculated as 2 722 ₺, 6 804 ₺, 13 608 ₺ and 27 216 ₺. In addition, drinking water samples were taken from 15 dairy cattle barns in Nilüfer district of Bursa province and were analysed for water quality. Keywords: Dairy cattle, Water consumption, Bursa, Water quality Introduction The water is usually on the second plan on feeding the animals. It is important that the animals' drinking water source is safe and adequate. Animals can have health or feed consumption problems because of the water quality which has low standards. Therefore, it should be provided adequate and safe drinking water to animals in animal barns (Ozdogan et al., 2016). If water is not provided in sufficient quantities, the animal will reduce feed consumption in order to reduce water loss to the animal due to water loss for a certain period of time. If water loss continues and thirst is not removed, various disorders occur in the body. Eventually it will be death. In order not to encounter such negativities, the water needs of the animals must be eliminated without interruption (Anonymous, 2014). When the water needs of cattle, sheep and poultry are determined, it is necessary to distinguish the water taken from the body as drinking water and water taken with feed. The diets of animals and the amount of water they contain vary. For example, the water rate of dried feeds is 10-14%, while the proportion of water in the collected grasses and silages is around 60-80%. In order for animals to be cultivated healthily and to be able to obtain the desired quality, it is necessary to be a quality and continuous water source. The decrease in productivity due to low water usage directly affects the profitability of the producers (Cemek et al., 2011). In this study, the annual water consumption of the animal barns was determined according to the animal existence in the Bursa region. In addition to this, the amounts of annual water demand of 4 different dairy cattle operations with 20,