Surface and Ground Water Quality

Water quality is a key environmental issue facing the agricultural sector and is also important for every agricultural use, from such activities as irrigation to livestock watering to safe household water on farms. Agricultural water sources may be poor quality as a result of natural causes, contamination or both, and often require improvement before it is acceptable for a given use. Agricultural water quality is usually improved using a series of steps. This is called a multiple barrier or "source to tap" approach. The first barrier is watershed management or protection. Other barriers are water source management or enhancement, water treatment designed to deal with the problems, and regular water quality testing or monitoring. Water quality management involves protection, enhancement and treatment in order to protect the environment and improve agricultural productivity.

General Information

Learn more about typical water quality problems, general water quality studies and information on water quality testing.

Protection

Learn about Beneficial Management Practices which improve and protect surface and groundwater quality.

Enhancement

Learn about ways to effectively and economically enhance on-farm supplies as a first step towards treatment.

Treatment

Learn about treatment methods that can bring natural water sources up to an acceptable standard.

Multimedia

A fun and interesting way to learn more about a "source to tap" approach.

• Robocow - Operation H2O
• Robocow - The Aquifer Connection
• Farm Surface Water Management Flash Animations
  • Dugout Aeration - Flash Animation
  • Coagulation - Flash Animation
  • Filtration - Flash Animation
  • Disinfection - Flash Animation
  • Polishing Methods - Flash Animation