How to Fix Farm Water Pollutants

Water naturally can renew and cleanse itself. Pollutants settle out through the process of sedimentation, and water dilutes pollutants, so they are not in harmful concentrations. This natural process takes time, and water cannot filter out excessive quantities of harmful contaminants. Farms add a considerable number of pollutants to water sources such as rivers. The Natural Resources Defense Council website states that California estimates that the major source of nitrate pollutants in more than 100,000 square miles of polluted groundwater comes from agriculture. Farm pollutants need to be addressed in protecting water supplies.

Instructions

• 1

  Stop using synthetic fertilizers and begin using natural fertilizers. Synthetic fertilizers are inexpensive and easily absorbed by plants, but the excess nutrients from these fertilizers leach into the water and cause contamination and endanger fish and amphibians. Many commercial fertilizers also contain toxic metals such as arsenic, mercury and lead. Natural fertilizers can be made from decomposing waste, which helps in recycling waste and indirectly prevents water pollution.

• 2

  Avoid or discontinue dumping excess pesticides and animal waste slurries from the farm into the water. Nutrients in animal waste cause algal blooms in the water that use up oxygen and contribute to "dead zones" where there's not enough oxygen to support life. Spray pesticides in minute amounts and during minimum runoff times or when there is no sight of rain.

• 3

  Construct a farm waste management plan that gives guidance toward protecting waters through safe agricultural practices. The plan should identify the volume and type of all wastes produced, the periods when waste is produced, the amount of land needed and available for safe spreading of waste, and the amount of storage needed for times when safe disposal is not possible or of benefit to the farm.

• 4

  Use integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for your farm. Integrated pest management is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to handling pest management rather than using dangerous pesticides. Use IPM techniques such as pheromones to disrupt pest mating, trapping or weeding pests, or using beneficial creatures for farm protection such as praying mantises.