Its December and in South Gippsland our creeks have slowed to little more than a trickle. Like many rural properties we have to rely on water stored in dams to get us through to Autumn. Our garden and nursery stock put extra demands on our supplies, and of course the cows are always thirsty! Around…
Category: water pollution
Effluent management on a dairy farm
For the last few weeks I’ve been visiting a dairy farm in West Gippsland to learn a bit more about how dairy farms work. It’s also an opportunity to apply some ideas about soil and water management in a practical context. Cows can deposit around 8 – 10% of manure and urine output around the…
Water pollution case study
Contamination of waters by organic matter including manures is a type of water pollution. Excessive organic matter load in water is likely to cause a number of changes including: Higher turbidity High decomposition rate leading to elevated carbon dioxide and lowered oxygen, Undesirable intermediate products of decomposition including nitrite and ammonia. Elevated nutrient levels Elevated…