Biobeds: the story so far

摘要

Pesticides may be released to farmyard surfaces as a result of spillages, leakages and the decontamination of tractors and sprayers. Residues on the yard surface may subsequently be washed off to surface waters. Such 'point source' releases can be minimised by modifying handling practices. However, it is inevitable that some releases will occur. Additional treatment methodologies are therefore required to reduce these releases. One possible approach is to use a biobed to intercept and treat contaminated runoff from the farmyard and/or drips and spillages arising during the filling process. Biobeds are capable of degrading high concentrations of relatively complex mixture of pesticide applied replied repeatedly. Water management is crucial in terms of both performance and construction costs. By manipulating biobed depth and hydraulic inputs, unlined biobeds were able to achieve the required level of performance.