Storm Water System
On every farm there is an onus on the landowner to ensure that Storm Water does not get polluted and is dealt with adequately. On the majority of farms, Storm Water is outfalled to a nearby Ditch, Stream or River. Under no circumstances should water that has been polluted in any way be allowed to enter a watercourse.
All building roofs should have a gutter installed to catch the rain water. This water, along with surface water from clean yards, should not be contaminated in any way, and can be piped to the nearest watercourse.
When constructing or modifying a farm Storm Water System, ensure that proper safety rules are adhered for activities such as Excavations. For new systems in particular, some sort of an attenuation should be considered in order to reduce the peak volume of water being discharged to the nearest watercourse.
Water from dirty yards is considered "soiled" and must be stored in a suitable storage tank before land spreading. Alternatively, if a suitable treatment system is installed on the farm, this water may be treated by a Constructed Farm Wetland to remove pollutants, before discharging to a watercourse.
When animals are housed at winter, the amount of open yard space that they have access to should be limited in order to reduce the resultant volume of soiled water to be stored or treated.
Farmipedia.ie is intended as a handy reference point for Irish farmers.
All information posted here is for your information, however Farmipedia.ie take no responsibility for anything posted on this site.
If you wish to return to the Farmipedia.ie homepage, click on the picture of the bull shown on the top left corner!