A benefits to water medication is that one individual can treat a large amount of pigs in one dose. The medication itself designates the dilution factor in regard to administering it into the water line. One of the limitations of this however is that it does not indicate administration on a per kilogram basis. In order for antibiotics to be effective it needs to be given in the body in a high enough concentration. Some hindrances of water medication include: 1) Medicator calibration; 2) Animal health (sick animals may drink less); 3) Water accessibility; 4) Taste of the medication; 5) Temperature; 6) Stage of production; and 7) Weight.

You can never be 100% certain that water treatment is reaching each pig. What you can do however is increase the likelihood of effectiveness. Dr. Tim Snider has developed a “dosage based” approach to this:

1. Incorporate the desired dose for each product to be used
2. Calculate the amount of product required per day for the group
3. Calculate the amount of product required per treatment period
4. Calculate the cost of the treatment
5. Cost comparison between products

It is possible to get veterinarians to prescribe off-label usage in order to incorporate this system.