Agricultural Runoff and Treatment Methods

Agricultural Runoff Characteristics

Agricultural runoff is identified as one of the main diffuse and non-point sources of pollution. It is typically enriched with sediments, nutrients, phosphorus, pathogens, pesticides, steroid, heavy metals, hormone and antibiotics (Kato et al., 2009; Lefrancq et al., 2017; Zhu et al., 2015). Globally, the leaching and runoff from agricultural activities such as dairy, potato processing, sugar processing and so on has contributed to the most widespread environmental threat in recent years (Kim et al., 2014). The runoff severity is closely linked with hydrological conditions (rainfall frequency and rainfall magnitude), anthropogenic alterations (types and changes in land use) and the interactions (Li et al., 2015; Zhu et al., 2015).