Cleaning Organic Poultry Water Lines
Material Input Corner
CLEANING ORGANIC POULTRY WATER LINES
By Ben Jackle, Materials Review Specialist
Are you an organic poultry farmer looking to clean your water lines? The National Organic Program (NOP) allows the use of specific chlorine materials to keep waterlines clean, but there are important rules that must be followed to maintain compliance.
Which Chlorine Materials Are Allowed?
Per the NOP regulations 205.603(a)(10), you can use products containing the following chlorine materials to clean or sanitize facilities or equipment:
- Sodium hypochlorite (the active ingredient in most standard bleach)
- Calcium hypochlorite
- Chlorine dioxide
- Hypochlorous acid
The Rules for Cleaning Water Lines
You are allowed to use approved products up to levels indicated by the product label to clean and sanitize your water lines. However, the water your poultry drinks cannot have high levels of leftover chlorine. The maximum allowed limits are
- 4 ppm (parts per million) for sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, and hypochlorous acid
- 0.8 ppm for chlorine dioxide
These are the levels of chlorine materials allowed in potable water by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
What This Means for You
If you treat your water system and/or lines with inputs containing chlorine you must verify that the water your poultry drinks does not contain chlorine in excess of the above levels.
Just like you document other farm activities, this cleaning activity must be documented. Your records must prove that the level of chlorine in the water poultry drinks is compliant with the standards for potable water set by the SDWA.
If you need to add a new sanitizer to your Organic System Plan (OSP) , please call or write to the MOSA Client Services Team! You can call toll free: 844-637-2526 or email us at mosa@mosaorganic.org.