Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories
-
Shock chlorination is the process by which home water systems such as wells, springs, and cisterns are disinfected using household liquid bleach (or chlorine). Shock chlorination is the most widely recommended means of treating bacterial contamination in home water systems. This publication contains guidelines for safely and effectively using shock chlorination — a standard treatment for sanitizing your well system.
|
-
C 858-7
Coliform Bacteria in Your Water
This publication contains information about identifying and controlling coliform bacteria in household water.
|
-
C 858-5
Nitrate and Nitrite in Water
Private well owners are responsible for the safety of their drinking water. Maintaining a healthy well requires routine testing for possible contaminants, including nitrate and nitrite. To assist in water safety, the EPA has set standards for nitrate levels in public drinking water systems. Although private well owners are not required to meet these standards, they do serve as a reference for safe drinking water. The EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) nitrate is: 10 ppm (parts per million) or mg/L (milligrams per liter) nitrate-nitrogen or, if expressed as nitrate, 45 ppm. For nitrite, the MCL is: 1 ppm or mg/L nitrite-nitrogen or, 3.28 ppm if expressed as nitrite. Nitrite is not stable in water and rapidly transforms to nitrate fairly easy. Its presence is an indicator of high concentrations of either nitrate or ammonia.
|
-
C 1077
Cover Crop Biomass Sampling
Cover crops are one of the most important practices that farmers can use to improve their soils and the sustainability of their production system. Knowing how much biomass there is in a field is a critical piece of information for cover crop management. Part 1 of this circular provides a step-by-step guide to taking a sample that will be representative of your field. Part 2 provides additional steps for preparing a fresh cover crop sample to send to the Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratory so it can be analyzed to determine nitrogen availability to the following crop. Equation examples and data sheets are also provided in order to help users calculate necessary information for submission using the given formulas.
|
-
Cation exchange capacity (CEC) is a measure of the total negative charges within the soil that adsorb plant nutrient cations such as calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+) and potassium (K+). As such, the CEC is a property of a soil that describes its capacity to supply nutrient cations to the soil solution for plant uptake.
|
-
The quality of drinking water from wells may be compromised during a flood. Flooding around the well increases the risk of drinking water becoming contaminated with bacteria or any other contaminants, rendering it unsafe to drink and for washing food items. This publication describes the steps to take when you suspect that your well has been affected by flooding. Steps include well inspection, calculation of the depth of water and storage capacity of the well, shock chlorination, and laboratory bacteria testing. The circular also discusses tips on how to know whether the water is safe to drink again.
|
-
This annual publication includes a report of 2018-19 onion research variety trials and Extension activity at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The report contains the results of research awarded by the Vidalia Onion Commodity Commission in 2019.
|
-
The goal of this publication is to guide the user to a better understanding of basic forage quality terms and to recommend management changes that will improve forage quality. To that end, our objectives are to explain how forage quality is measured, describe how to interpret a forage analysis, present the effects of management on forage quality, and list the key management strategies that can increase the nutritive value of forage crops.
|
-
A regular fertilization program is important to maintain healthy, attractive turf and should include applying the correct analysis of fertilizer, using the correct amount, and fertilizing at the proper time. Turfgrasses require a number of nutrients for growth. Three of these—carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen—are rarely lacking because grasses get these elements from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and water from the soil.
The remaining eighteen essential elements are also obtained from the soil. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) are needed in the highest concentrations. These major elements are commonly supplemented with fertilizer. The three numbers on the front of fertilizer bags are often called the ”N-P-K” numbers.
In addition to these major nutrients, secondary nutrients and micronutrients are also essential for plant growth. Understanding fertilizer terminology and the different types of nitrogen sources is important when establishing a lawn management plant. Nontraditional or “organic” fertilizers are also an option for homeowners.
|