Surface and Ground Water Quality
Water quality is a key environmental issue facing the agricultural sector. 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 usually referred to as a multiple barrier or 'source to tap' approach. The first barrier is watershed management or protection, followed by water source management or enhancement, water treatment designed to deal with the problems, and regular water quality testing or monitoring.
General Information
Learn about typical water quality problems, water quality studies, information on water quality testing and the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines. Find information on algae and cyanobacteria, along with rural water quality as it relates to individual supplies, community sources and rural pipelines. Also find the Rural Water Quality Information Tool.
Protection
Learn about Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) which improve and protect surface and groundwater quality. Find information on BMPs for riparian areas controlling pests, protecting your water, managing nutrients and livestock watering. Follow Robocow on two adventures related to source water protection, read the livestock water quality report and learn how to use field chemistry kits.
Enhancement
Learn about ways to effectively and economically enhance on-farm supplies as a first step towards treatment. Find information on dugout aeration, coagulation, covers and copper treatment methods.
Treatment
Treatment methods are sometimes required to bring natural water sources up to an acceptable standard. Find information on aluminum, approaches to water treatment, biological treatment of water supplies, chlorine and ultraviolet disinfection, coagulation and slow sand filters. Also find out how to maintain safe water quality with cisterns and water tanks and how to evaluate your treatment systems. Watch all of the Farm Surface Water Management Flash Animations to learn the basics of common treatment methods.
Multimedia
A fun and interesting way to learn more about a 'source to tap' approach.
- The Hydrologic Cycle
- Robocow - Operation H2O
- Robocow - The Aquifer Connection
- Farm Surface Water Management Flash Animations
- Farm Water Well Management - Flash Animation
All Water Quality Factsheets, Multimedia and Tools
Use this link to see all of the water quality factsheets, multimedia and tools arranged alphabetically by title.