Agricultural

Application: Treatment of yard runoff from a small farm, Co Fermanagh

Installed: November 2005

Consent: There was no consent issued for this system. The project was part funded by an EC fund to improve local water quality by offering small grants to local farmers and householders who wished to improve their environment.

Solution: Runoff water from the yard is settled in two sumps linked by a French drain. The water then flows by gravity to a hybrid reed bed system, comprising surface and sub surface horizontal flow. The surface flow removes suspended solids and the sub surface flow removes BOD.

Result: The system has worked very effectively in reducing BOD (figures show 870mg/litre at the inlet reducing to 26mg/litre at the discharge) and suspended solids. Regular emptying of the sumps is required to prevent clogging of the reed beds by silt, however, the design has shown that a simple reed bed system can dramatically reduce runoff pollution from farms.