Agricultural drainage wells have a high contamination potential resulting from irrigation tailwater, field drainage and runoff from feedlots, animal yards and dairies. These waters often carry pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, pathogens, and salts. Site conditions, pest and crop patterns and agricultural practices vary widely so no specific recommendations are appropriate for all situations. However, there are several general guidelines:

Storage and Disposal Build a roof over your petroleum tanks. Keeping the sun off them reduces evaporation and lessens the risk of explosion. Lay heavy plastic sheeting between 6 x 6 beams on the machine floor. Park the sprayer on top of the plastic. Lock up the chemicals to keep them away from children and to help prevent accidental spills. Properly dispose of empty containers, equipment rinse water, and unused chemicals. Store agricultural chemicals away from obvious conduits to ground water, such as operating and abandoned wells, sink holes, surface depressions where ponded water is likely to accumulate. Store agricultural chemicals in covered areas or containers to protect them from being scattered by wind or washed away by rain. Store them in a location in which the direction of ground water movement is from wells to storage areas. Use sturdy pans or trays to hold small containers of pesticides. Use containers such as children's wading pools to hold bags of fertilizer.

Management Close surface inlets or raise them above ponding levels to allow the water to filter through the soil, reducing the transport of some contaminants. Date your pesticide containers. Use the oldest ones first. Inventory and properly close Class V Wells. Let your local fire department know the location of pesticides. In case of a fire, this is for the safety of firemen. And it may help firemen avoid using volumes of water on hazardous materials, which could result in contamination problems and extensive cleanup cost. Stay at least 100 feet from your well when filling your crop sprayer with water. Use a 100-foot hose. Use backflow prevention devices when applying chemicals through an irrigation system to eliminate the risk of direct contamination of the well. Use household cleaning supplies that are less toxic to your septic system. Use pesticides with less potential to leach.

Recycling

• Recycle dead batteries.
• Recycle pesticide containers. Check with the Extension office to see if your state has hazardous waste disposal days.
• Recycle waste oil. Don't use old oil to kill weeds around the farmstead.

Testing

• Analyze water from drinking water supply wells near agricultural drainage wells frequently to detect the presence of contaminants.
• Have your well tested for bacteria and nitrates every year. The cost is usually about $20.

• Avoid pesticide application when conditions are most likely to promote leaching.
• Avoid spills when handling or using pesticides.
• Don't use pesticides uphill or within a few hundred feet of your wells.
• Don't store liquid pesticides on a shelf above dry pesticides.
• Don't chop silage too early in the season. Reduce silage leaching; the leakage is extremely high in nitrates.
• Don't rinse your sprayer in the same spot every time. Move the sprayer around or rinse it in the fields.
• Don't store filled silo bags near a well or on a slope.
• Don't use Class V Wells to drain unwanted water from croplands.

For more information contact Farm*A*Syst

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