Drinking Water:
Water is vital to javas or any bird's diet, because the body of a bird contains 60% water and their eggs contain 65% water. A shortage of water retards growth and its absence leads to death in a very short period.

In my outdoor aviary I have a fishpond and attached to the pond is a big water filter that keeps the water clean but not sterile, a bit like birds would drink out in the wild, if the quality of the water is supporting good healthy fish and pond weed I don't see any reason why its not good enough for the java's. They also bath in it as well! I am not too sure how many gallons are in the pound but it takes two hours to fill it.

Drinking water in containers:
I make it a rule to change their drinking water on a daily basis every day of the year. In the summer months on the very hot odd days we get here, I change the water morning and night. As my javas like to try bathing in their drinking vessels, you can imagine what state the vessels are like at the end of each day. If left unattended for to long in the hot weather you increase the chances of the stagnant water becoming a nesting ground for bacteria. To avoid big problems with the birds it's far easier to change the water on a daily bases. I only use additives during (see the additives page!)