diff --git a/k8s/backend-deployment.yml b/k8s/backend-deployment.yml
index 6ed74118..35b73583 100644
--- a/k8s/backend-deployment.yml
+++ b/k8s/backend-deployment.yml
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ spec:
                 key: POSTGRES_DB
 
           - name: POSTGRES_URL
-            value: postgres://$(POSTGRES_USER):$(POSTGRES_PASSWORD)@postgres:5432/$(POSTGRES_DB)?sslmode=disable
+            valueFrom:
+              secretKeyRef:
+                name: devboard-secrets
+                key: POSTGRES_URL
           
           - name: PORT
             value: "8080"
diff --git a/k8s/secrets.yml b/k8s/secrets.yml
index c38088bd..9f58360a 100644
--- a/k8s/secrets.yml
+++ b/k8s/secrets.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@ kind: Secret
 metadata:
   name: devboard-secrets
   namespace: devboard
-type: opaque
+
+type: Opaque
 data:
   POSTGRES_PASSWORD:  ZGV2Ym9hcmQ=
   POSTGRES_DB:  ZGV2Ym9hcmQ= # this decodes to devboard
+  POSTGRES_URL: cG9zdGdyZXM6Ly9kZXZib2FyZDpkZXZib2FyZEBwb3N0Z3Jlczo1NDMyL2RldmJvYXJkP3NzbG1v # pstgresurl decode
+# stringData:
+  # POSTGRES_URL: postgres://devboard:devboard@postgres:5432/devboard?sslmode=disable