What can you do to minimise water pollution?

At Home

• Conserve water
• Detergents - only use low phosphorous detergents i.e. less than 5%
• Use of Pesticides DO's & DON’Ts
• If you have a septic tank,  
  •  It should only discharge to a percolation area not to a watercourse.  
  •  All sinks, showers, washing machines etc should be connected to the tank.  
  •  No roof or surface water should be allowed enter the tank.  
  •  Septic tanks should be desludged once per year or when a scum is visible in and/or the depth of sludge is greater than 400mm in the second chamber.
  • Do not dispose of household hazardous materials (paints, solvents, pesticides, engine oil etc) into watercourses, septic tanks or sewers.

On The Farm

• Keep all dangerous substances stored safely and safe guard against accidental spillage e.g. pesticides, veterinary products, oil, and artificial fertiliser. Any accidental spillages of harmful substances should be reported to the local authority. This is a requirement of law and failure to report an accidental spillage or discharge to waters may result in prosecution.

• Use of Pesticides

• Provide and maintain gutters and eaves runs for all roof water from farm buildings and divert to surface water or soak pit. Control and manage the collection and storage of all farmyard wastewater, including cattle manure, cattle slurry, silage effluent, soiled water from yards, manure heaps and dairy washings, in accordance with GAP Regulations.

• The risk of pollution of surface waters and wells should be avoided by leaving a buffer strip between the water source and the spread lands:  

  • 5 metres for any surface water  
  • 15 metres of karst features such as swallow holes & collapsed features  
  • 20 metres for lakes shoreline  
  • 25 metres of any borehole, spring or well supplying 50 persons or less  
  • 100 metres of any abstractions serving 50 or more persons  
  • 200 metres of any abstraction serving more than 500 persons

• No chemical fertiliser should be applied within 1.5 metres of any watercourse.

• The minimum storage period in Roscommon for livestock manure is 18 weeks for the housing period.

• Land spreading of:  

  •  Chemical fertiliser on land is prohibited form the 15th September to the 15th January  
  •  Organic fertiliser (other than farmyard manure) on land is prohibited from the 15th October to the 15th January  
  •  Farmyard manure on land is prohibited from the 1st November to the 15th January

• Never spread chemical fertiliser or farmyard wastes when heavy rain is forecast within the next 48 hours or on:  

  • Wet or waterlogged land  
  • Frozen or snow-covered land  
  • Land sloping steeply towards rivers, streams or lakes, on exposed bedrock or in situations where there is a significant risk of causing water pollution

• For further details on farm water protection, and other good environmental practices, consult the European Communities (Good Agricultural Practices for Protection of Waters) Regulations