Water Supplies, Preventing Pesticides from Contaminating

This is an essential requirement if water quality is to be protected. Animals, wildlife and humans all depend on drinkable water supplies so polluting water will compromise their safety and negatively affect their health and well-being. Biodiversity is also reduced in polluted water courses.

Preventing contamination is a regulatory requirement and complying with the regulations helps to avoid prosecution, fines and penalties. There will not be any costs incurred for having to decontaminate and clean water supplies, because they haven’t been polluted, whilst clean water will contribute to maintaining and managing an appropriate turfgrass surface. Reputational damage can be significant for organisations found to be polluting water supplies and the negatives consequences of this can affect the success of the organisation, potentially leading to failure and going out of business.

Practices can be undertaken which help to prevent, or at least reduce, the likelihood of pesticide contamination of water supplies, including:
• Use Integrated Pest / Turf Management practices to reduce or eliminate the need for pesticides.
• Apply targeted pesticides with least toxic active ingredients. That they are also less prone to leaching.
• Create a buffer zone between the sprayed area and any watercourse, ensuring the distance is of a generous size, rather than a minimum recommended or suggested size.
• Ensure spraying equipment is well maintained, doesn’t leak and is calibrated correctly.
• Only spray when weather and ground conditions are ideal, not when the water content in the soil is high as this will increase the likelihood of leaching, nor when the ground is hard as this will increase the likelihood of surface run-off.
• Ensure sprayer operatives not only have a certificate of competence but practice continuous professional development and have had a refresher course on the safe use of pesticides at least every three years.
• Ensure storage facilities are properly constructed and adequately secured, providing a suitable containment system surrounding the storage facility.
• Provide self-contained wash down facility for post use cleaning of spraying equipment.
• Dispose of pesticides and containers responsibly and in a legal way.