Yorkshire Water is calling on local farmers based on catchment land near the River Hull to carefully manage the use of slug control pesticides in a bid to reduce the impact they have on drinking water.
River Hull at Hempholme LockThe pellets’ active ingredient, metaldehyde, commonly seeps from farmland into water courses. It cannot be removed from water by conventional treatment processes, meaning the chemical is finding its way into drinking water. Water companies fear that UK waters could fail to meet EU water safety thresholds as a result of this contamination.
The River Hull is one of the region’s metaldehyde hotspots, in which concentrations of the chemical have breached regulatory limits. This is particularly noticeable in watercourses around Driffield and Beeford.
Read the full article: Farming.co.uk
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