What this tool does
Estimate normal and peak livestock water demand, reserve storage, trough/storage adequacy, refill time, and minimum source flow.
Use this tool when
- Checking whether a water system has enough daily capacity.
- Planning storage for hot conditions or emergencies.
- Estimating recovery/refill time.
- Comparing source flow with a desired refill period.
Before you begin
Gather the project information you already know. Leave Optional or Advanced fields alone until you need them, and review every editable assumption before relying on the result.
Recommended workflow
1. Livestock groups
Add livestock classes, head counts, and editable gallons/head/day planning assumptions.
2. Conditions
Set typical and hot-weather conditions plus lactation, forage, feed/salt adjustment, safety factor, and reserve assumptions as needed.
3. Water system
Enter trough capacity, storage capacity, number of troughs, source flow GPM, and desired recovery period.
4. Optional water-point allocation
Allocate herd percentages across multiple water points in Advanced mode.
5. Review demand and capacity
Compare normal and peak demand with available storage and source flow.
6. Export the system summary
Use PDF/Print, CSV, Copy Summary, or Email.
Key results
- Normal daily demand.
- Peak hot-weather demand.
- Hourly peak planning demand.
- Required reserve storage.
- Gallons/head available.
- Refill time.
- Minimum source gpm.
- Capacity surplus or deficit.
Save, export, and share
For meaningful work, use Save Project to create a .ra file before leaving. Use Export for reports/data and Share for email or copied summaries. The exact export formats available depend on the tool.
Important planning note
This calculator is a planning aid and not a certification of animal-welfare or engineering compliance. Actual water demand and system performance depend on animals, weather, forage, water quality, plumbing, source reliability, and field conditions.
Related help
- About RanchAssist
.raProject Files - Export and Share Overview
- Understanding Livestock Water Requirement Calculator Results and Calculations
- Troubleshooting Livestock Water Requirement Calculator
