Feed delivery and storage

Livestock feeds such as silage, brewer’s grains and molasses can be highly polluting to rivers and other watercourses. Bacteria that are already present in the water use the feed to multiply and, at the same time, remove oxygen from the water. Without oxygen the fish and small insect life in the watercourse cannot survive.

    What you must do

    Never allow contaminated drainage from your feed storage or delivery areas to enter surface water drains, land drains or watercourses. If you do, you may be committing a pollution offence.

      Good practice

      Store feed and waste feed away from watercourses and surface water drains.

      Cover the storage area to help minimise the amount of run-off water that you need to manage.

      Pick up any spilt feed as soon as possible. Never hose down feed spills.

      Store packaging from foodstuffs under cover before disposal.

      If you are delivering feed through a pipeline, take special care that the pipeline does not leak. Locate the pipe so that if it does leak you minimise the risk of the feed entering a drain. Try to run pipelines above ground as far as possible, but position them so that you minimise the risk of accidental damage.