The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.
Runoff 201 (14411944650).jpg

Agricultural runoff of water from fields often contains fertilizer or livestock manure which becomes a problem when it reaches the ocean and creates dead zones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_zone_%28ecology%29). I would like to start a discussion on how to solve this problem.

Usually water leaving fields collects and runs down ditches next to roads or through other small waterways before flowing into creeks and rivers. This seems to be an opportunity to install filters to remove the problem compounds. I have no idea what such a filter would look like: it would need to deal with a fair quantity of water moving at a good clip, especially in areas where there is a spring runoff from winter snows or where there are heavy rainfalls. Since we are dealing with dissolved compounds rather than particulates the usual sort of filter likely wouldn't work and chemical processes would need to be used. Pollutants arising from chemical reactions would need to be avoided and we would need a good way of disposing of any resulting material. We may as well think about how to remove herbicide and pesticide residues as well.

This would not do anything about water moving underground but it would reduce problem compounds reaching the ocean considerably.

I would like to invite anyone who has any ideas about this, especially if you have any expertise in chemistry, but even if you don't, to leave your thoughts on the discussion page.

FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Keywords water, food, agriculture, environment, environment rehabilitation
SDG SDG02 Zero hunger, SDG06 Clean water and sanitation
Authors GreenGuy
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 3 pages link here
Aliases Agricultural Runoff
Impact 369 page views
Created June 26, 2014 by GreenGuy
Modified October 23, 2023 by Maintenance script
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.