Pollution fertilizer runoff

Water pollution results from a number of sources including agricultural runoff, erosion, industrial wastes, domestic wastes, and road runoff. Water pollution can be classified as either point source or nonpoint source. Point source pollution is emitted from a specific, well-defined location such as a pipe. Nonpoint sources refer to pollutants dispersed over a wide area from many different areas. A sewer pipe would be an example of a point source and fertilizer runoff from a field would represent nonpoint source pollution. 

Nonpoint sources of pollution are more difficult to measure because they often cover large areas or are a composite of numerous point sources. Examples of nonpoint sources include pesticide and fertilizer runoff from agricultural fields, and urban runoff contaminated with pollutants from automobile emissions. Nonpoint sources may not be directly located next to a surface water body pollutants may be transported to surface waters by runoff from the land, by groundwater inflow, or by atmospheric transport. 

The sources of pollution in the Kishon River are industrial effluents, dredging of sediments, fertilizer runoff, and dumping of waste. The contaminants include numerous lipophilic and hydrophilic compounds, among which are... 

The preparation of soils for crops, planting, and tilling raises dust as a fugitive emission. Such operations are shll exempt from air pollution regulations in most parts of the world. The application of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides is also exempt from air pollution regulations, but other regulations may cover the drift of these materials or runoff into surface waters. This is particularly true of the materials are hazardous or toxic. 

Runoff of soil, agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, bacteria, natural toxins and other pollutants can flow into streams and rivers and can subsequently affect surface water supplies or leak vertically into shallow alluvial aquifers (Burkart et al, 1997). 

A last application of the previous reference (Thomas et al., 2005) was the study of pollution sources of lake Brome (Southern Quebec) from its tributaries, giving useful information related to agricultural pressure (manure spreading), wastewater management (urban runoff discharges) or golf management (use of fertilizers and pesticides). 

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