How does fertilizer runoff work?
When farmers spray their crops with pesticide or fertiliser, it doesn’t just vanish. It lands on the soil. Most farms have drainage systems so that their plants don’t get root rot from waterlogged soil. Most of these drains eventually run into creeks, rivers and then the sea. These chemicals then end up in water supplies that we drink. It can also mean that ‘organic’ food is actually not because it has been irrigated with water containing chemical runoff.
