Throughout Western Europe, including the UK, there has been considerable investigation into the amount of pesticides entering waterways and courses. Studies starting from the late 1990’s have shown that between 40-70% of the total amount of pesticides in water have come from the sprayer filling area and it is this contamination which is often referred to as ‘point source pollution’.

Reducing pollution from these sources is essential and can be achieved by following best practice and adopting the following procedures;

Reduce volume of contaminated liquid by limiting:

• the amount of pesticides used
• pesticide waste created though poor handling procedures
• water entering sprayer filling area by bunding and/or roofing the area
• water leaving sprayer filling area by bunding and containment

Responsibly manage the contaminated liquid by:

• application to land via an Environmental Permit
• removal to suitable waste treatment centre
• treatment by a carbon filtration process
• treatment via a bioremediation process, e.g. biobed, biofilter, Phytobac (roofed biobed)