As slurry season draws to a close, NI Water is urging farmers to take extra care in safeguarding water resources when applying slurry or manure in the coming week.

It's essential to carefully plan both the timing and location of slurry, manure, and fertiliser application to avoid polluting nearby watercourses.

Fields with steep slopes or poor drainage are particularly prone to runoff, especially during rainfall. Even a short rainfall event can carry a significant amount of phosphorus into rivers and lakes, contributing to water pollution.

The closed period prohibits organic manures, including slurry, poultry litter, sewage sludge and abattoir waste, from being spread from 15 October to 31 January. Farmyard manure must not be applied from midnight 31 October to 31 January.

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During the next week, as the season closes, organic manures (including dirty water) must not be applied:

Within 250m of a borehole used for public water supply

Within 50m of a borehole, spring or well

Within 30m of lakes

Within 15m of a waterway other than lakes (reduced to 5m when using LESSE)

On waterlogged soils, flooded land or land likely to flood

On frozen ground or snow-covered ground

If heavy rain is forecast in the next 48 hours

On steep slopes (with an average incline of 20% or more on grassland, 15% or more on all other land)

Roy Taylor, NI Water Catchment Manager, said: "Care in timing and placement of slurry, manure and fertiliser is vital to minimise the potential for loss from land to water. If slurry is spread on poor, very wet ground or during or just before wet weather conditions, it can run off the land; this results in valuable nutrients ending up in our watercourses. Abstracting this from our water is difficult and expensive to treat, however NI Water must do this in order to provide the high-quality drinking water we all expect."