Clean Water

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On-farm Surface Water

Obtaining good quality water from farm surface water sources is challenging. The key is protecting and enhancing the water source, and using a series of treatment processes. These treatment processes are called barriers: each barrier reduces specific water quality problems from being passed on in the water. This cover screen shows how a multiple barrier approach can be used on farm dugouts, to obtain high quality water for rural uses. The approach starts with managing the land effectively, aerating dugouts, and using a number of water treatment steps in sequence. The approach could be used on other similar (or better quality) surface water sources. By clicking on each barrier, a new animation will start, explaining each barrier process in more detail. A word of caution: Each barrier must be properly designed, well- operated and regularly maintained. Multiple barriers, like a chain, are only as strong as their weakest link. If one barrier fails, the final water quality will deteriorate and may not be safe for its intended use.

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Robocow: Operation H2O

It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's RoboCow. Able to leap tall silos in a single bound, this animated environmental advocate uses her ground-scan radar vision to detect on-farm perils. Like the best of all superheroes, she maps out solutions to hazards like improperly stored chemicals, pesticide run off and stream contamination. Once her mission is successfully accomplished, she flies off to seek other pastures in need of greening. This Flash animation, conceived to make students from grades six to 10 aware of best farm management practices, won an award of merit from the Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada based in Etobicoke, ON.

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Robocow: The Aquifer Connection

It was an average year by all accounts, the rainfall was adequate and the wildlife was doing well. There were no disasters or elections, the economy was doing fine, and day to day life was even to the point where the media had little news to report. The people in the city did their normal bustling to and fro, and for the farmers it was business as usual, growing their crops, managing their livestock, caring for their resources. It was on one of these ordinary days that something appeared on the horizon, rapidly approaching. It had appeared before, at about the time when water quality in the area was beginning to suffer. Once again, things were not as they seemed. Robocow detects problems in the Aquifer.

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Dugout Aeration

Aeration is a management technique which enhances water quality in reservoirs. In Canada, farm ponds or dugouts are constructed in clay soils, and used to collect and store water from snow melt and rain. Roughly 3.5 to 6.0 m deep, dugouts typically store from 2 to 30 million Litres of water. In winter they are completely covered with ice (usually from November to March). In summer water in dugouts will stagnate. However, when dugouts are continuously aerated year round, water quality is improved. This animation shows an aerated reservoir beside an unaerated reservoir. The benefits of aeration are shown and described for each season of the year. As a water treatment barrier, aeration will keep the water fresher with less nutrient recycling from the bottom sediment.

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Dugout Coagulation

Coagulation is a chemical process used to remove unwanted particles or matter in water. It is a very common barrier used in municipal water treatment. Coagulation can be used for farm water treatment. The coagulation animation describes the process and benefits of coagulation. Simple procedures are shown to determine the correct chemical dose. A simple method is depicted for treating dugouts and small storage cells. Coagulation treatment will improve water quality for many farm needs.

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Filtration Systems

Improving water quality almost always involves some sort of filtration process. Filtration barriers remove larger particles from water, including those formed by coagulation. The animation shows small-scale filters used to treat surface water: rapid sand, rapid carbon, slow sand, and biological carbon filters. The process is shown for each type of filter, with simple explanations of the benefits, limitations, and basic operational requirements.

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Disinfectant Solutions

When high quality water is required, such as drinking water, household water or livestock watering, disinfection is an essential barrier. Disinfection kills disease-causing organisms. The disinfection animation shows why bacteria, parasites and viruses pass through the initial treatment barriers, and describes how chlorine or ultraviolet light may be used to kill these organisms. Disinfection is usually the last barrier in municipal water treatment. Continual water testing is always necessary to ensure the disinfection process is working effectively.

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Polishing Methods

Small-scale water treatment systems for private rural water treatment are generally not managed by chemists, biologists, engineers and technologists, and the treated water quality is not frequently tested, as is the case for municipal supplies. Therefore for rural households, another water treatment polishing barrier is recommended after the initial pre-treatment processes. A polishing barrier will increase the safety of water used for human consumption. Two ideal polishing barriers are shown in the animation: reverse osmosis filtration and distillation. These processes are very effective in removing impurities that the pre-treatment barriers did not remove. A final note: Remember to operate and maintain every barrier, and be sure to test the final drinking water on a regular basis to ensure its safety for consumption.

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