Farm Runoff: What is it Anyway?

When we talk about farm runoff, we are referring to a broad spectrum of agricultural contamination.

Point source pollution and diffuse (nonpoint) source pollution are the two broad categories that define where this stuff comes from.

Point source pollution is contamination that can be traced back to a single point of origin.

Examples would be undiluted animal manure, called slurry, or milk spillage, or something called silage liquor which is farm runoff from fermented wet grass and other fodder.

Silage is a broad name for fodder that is converted to livestock feed through a fermentation process, usually in a silo.

Diffuse source pollution is farm runoff that is harder to pinpoint since it can come from a wider area and from multiple sources.

Fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that are widely spread on fields are diffuse sources. They end up in drainage ditches, then streams, rivers and eventually end up in our lakes and oceans.

The problems these contaminants cause all get back to something called their high biological oxygen demand (BOD).

They all have a high nitrate concentration which causes high levels of nutrient pollution in the waterways.

The excess nutrients cause algae blooms that rob the oxygen from the water. The process is called eutrophication. Just thought I would throw that in, now forget it.

The end result is the death of water plants, then fish, frogs and other denizens of the waterways.

Decomposition from all those dead bodies increases bacteria, depleting oxygen levels even further.

Soon we are left with a "dead" body of water, no life, nada.

Certain types of algae produce toxins that can kill wildlife. In humans, contact can cause skin rashes and ingestion can result in pains and stomach upsets.

Under certain conditions, nitrates in drinking water can prove fatal to babies. Somewhere along the line, farm runoff eventually makes it into our drinking water and we need to protect our families.

A highly recommended system for the kitchen is The Wellness Kitchen S-III from Wellness Filter^®. It reduces chlorine, chloramines, trihalomethanes, volatile organic compounds, pesticides, herbicides, and foreign tastes and odors below detectable levels for safer, healthier water.

Photo right: The Wellness MG-III^™ whole house water filter from Wellness Filter^®

Take it a step further and filter the whole house with The Wellness MG-III^™. It will give you better-than-bottled-quality water flowing from every tap in your home including the bath and shower.

Go to their website at:

to get more information on a wide variety of home and personal water filtration solutions. When you visit their site and decide to buy, be sure to type the number 23494 in the "Referral ID" box at checkout.

You will be asked to sign up to become a "member" which does not cost anything and will get you product updates and possibly promotional coupons in the future.

You don't have to become a member to make a purchase. If you don't want to beome a member, just click "No Thanks" and proceed.

Bridge Works, Inc. (the owner of this website) is a proud independent distributor of Wellness Filter^® products. All associated trademarks and information are the exclusive property of Wellness Enterprises, LLC.

Photo: Farmers dumping milk on field in price protest; this action caused incredible damage to the immediate environment. Milk has the highest biological oxygen demand (see below)

Typical farm runoff (agricultural pollutants) has enormous biological oxygen demands as shown in the bullets below.

No one wants to shut down the farms (we still have to eat), but good agricultural resource management seems to point to a greater awareness and control of the hazards to our drinking water and natural waterways from farm runoff.

Milk spillage or dumping: 140,000 ppm

Silage liquor: up to 80,000 ppm

Pig slurry: up to 30,000 ppm

Cattle slurry: up to 20,000 ppm

Liquid sewage sludge: 20,000 ppm

Domestic sewage: 300-400 ppm

Treated sewage: 20-60 ppm

Vegetable washings 500-3000 ppm

The most recent National Water Quality Inventory from the EPA reports that agricultural nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is the leading source of water quality impacts to surveyed rivers and lakes, the third largest source of impairments to surveyed estuaries, and also a major contributor to ground water contamination and wetlands degradation.

Agricultural activities that cause NPS pollution include confined animal facilities, grazing, plowing, pesticide spraying, irrigation, fertilizing, planting, and harvesting.

The major agricultural NPS pollutants that result from these activities are sediment, nutrients, pathogens, pesticides, and salts. Agricultural activities also can damage habitat and stream channels.

The USDA and EPA have numerous programs in place to monitor and control these nonpoint sources of pollution.

First they try to manage Sedimentation that occurs when wind or water carries soil particles from an area, such as a farm field, and transports them to a water body, such as a stream or lake.

Excessive sedimentation clouds the water reducing the amount of sunlight reaching aquatic plants; covers fish spawning areas and food supplies; and clogs the gills of fish.

In addition, other pollutants like phosphorus, pathogens, and heavy metals are often attached to the soil particles and wind up in the water bodies with the sediment.

Erosion and sedimentation can be reduced from 20 to 90 percent by applying management measures to control the volume and flow rate of runoff water.

Second, they attempt to manage nutrients. When Phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium fertilizers, manure, sludge, irrigation water, legumes, and crop residues wash into aquatic ecosystems they can cause excessive plant growth (see algae bloom photo above).

This spoils recreation areas, creates a foul taste and odor in drinking water and kills fish. In drinking water, high concentrations of nitrate can cause methemoglobinemia, a potentially fatal disease in infants, also known as blue baby syndrome.

Third, they try to manage confined animal feeding facilities.

These confined areas can become major sources of animal waste where runoff can carry pathogens (bacteria and viruses), nutrients, and oxygen-demanding substances to sensitive areas.

Ground water is also contaminated by seepage. Discharges can be limited by proper storage and management of wastewater and runoff.

Photo top: Confined hogs and cows; the source of much farm waste and eventually, contaminated water


Photo: Hog lagoon; holding pond for hog waste. Through flooding and seepage, will find its way to the water table

Fourth, they attempt to manage Irrigation and avoid inefficiencies that can cause serious water quality problems.

In arid areas rainwater does not carry residues deep into the soil and excessive irrigation can concentrate pesticides, nutrients, disease-carrying microorganisms, and salts, all of which impact water quality in the top layer of soil.

Farmers can reduce NPS pollution by matching irrigation with actual crop needs.

Fifth, they manage pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. These chemicals can enter and contaminate water through direct application, runoff, wind transport, and atmospheric deposition.

They can kill fish and wildlife, poison food sources, and destroy the habitat that animals use for protective cover.

To reduce NPS contamination from pesticides, people can apply Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques which help limit pesticide use and manages necessary applications to minimize pesticide movement from the field.

Last is the Management of livestock grazing that exposes soils, increases erosion, encourages invasion by undesirable plants,

destroys fish habitat, and reduces the filtration of sediment necessary for building stream banks, wet meadows, and floodplains.

To reduce the impacts of grazing on water quality, farmers and ranchers can adjust grazing intensity, keep livestock out of sensitive areas, provide alternative sources of water and shade, and revegetate rangeland and pastureland.

Custom Search