Welsh Water launches pesticide awareness campaign to protect drinking water quality
- Launch of pesticide awareness campaign to protect drinking water
- Free pesticide disposal scheme
- Award winning Weed Wiper trial extended and expanded
A new public awareness campaign which encourages people to consider ‘smarter’ ways of weed, pest and disease control that do not impact on people, water or wildlife, will be launched today (Monday 28th November) by Lesley Griffiths AM, Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society Winter Fair in Llanelwedd.
PestSmart, a joint initiative between Welsh Water and Natural Resources Wales and supported by the Welsh Government and the agriculture and environment sectors, encourages farmers, growers and landowners to consider the way they manage their land to help improve raw water quality before it reaches water treatment works.
Ian Christie, Managing Director of Water Services at Welsh Water, said, “Our new PestSmart campaign will signpost land managers to advice and practical solutions for weed, pest and disease control and include a free pesticide disposal scheme for farmers, growers, foresters and land managers in targeted areas to safely dispose of any unwanted, out of date or now unlicensed pesticides. We are also delighted to announce that we are extending and expanding our award winning ‘Weed Wiper’ trial until 2020.
“Our routine raw water monitoring programme has detected increasing traces of pesticides in areas we have never seen them before. While these levels are too low to pose a risk to those drinking the water, they are enough to breach the rigorous drinking water standards so we want to work with land managers to take action to address this issue together.
“By safeguarding the raw water quality before it enters our water treatment works, we can avoid the need for using additional chemicals and energy to get drinking water perfect for our customers. This will not only help us to keep bills low for our customers and will also safeguard the environment and protect it for generations to come.” To read more click here
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