Intensive farming and the associated use of pesticides is one of the main reasons that these regulated substances can be found in the drinking water reservoirs of a large number of British water utilities.
The substance metaldehyde contained in slug pellets is a special challenge for the water utility as this substance is able to easily pass through the conventional treatment steps (ozonization + activate carbon).
In order to check whether so called Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) are suitable for reducing metaldehyde below the limit value, an eight-month pilot phase was conducted on site.