Results

Year 2015

from january 2015 to february 2016

In 2015, 9,5 kg of active substances from phytosanitary effluents were collected in the PhytoBarre prototypes. Results showed a reduction of polluant load about 82 % on average. The bacteria consortium activity was tested on the 82 different active substances used in the 4 farms.

Copper content, polluant concentration and outdoor conditions had no effect on the biological process of biodegradation.

Thanks to an accurate preliminary diagnosis, effluent volumes in storage tanks were efficiently controled, and no environmental release occured.

What was the environmental benefit ? Considering that the higest concentration of pesticides allowed in crude water before potability treatment is about 5µg/L[i] and that one french household consumes on average (for domestic and non domestic use) 160m3 of drinking water each year [ii]: the quantity of pesticides collected during 2015 could have generated 2 000 000 m3 of non treatable crude water, equivalent to the water consumption of 33 000 person during 1 year !


[i] Arrêté du 11 janvier 2007 du Ministère de la Santé et des Solidarités

[ii] Observatoire des services publics d’eau et d’assainissement – Panorama des services et de leur performance en 2012, ONEMA, 2015

 More about the results

Reduction of polluant load

The global reduction rate depends on the farms agricultural practices (phytosanitary products used, frequency of the phytosanitary treatment and rinse pratices), and on outdoor conditions (temperature, sunlight, etc.).

On the 4 prototypes, 82 different active substances were detected.

Observed reduction rates showed that polluant load had no impact on the efficiency of the bacterial biodegradation.

During 2015, 9,5 kg of active substances from phytosanitary products were captured on the Phytobarre storage tanks. Bacteria have degraded 7,7 kg, resulting in an average reduction rate about 82 %.

The bacteria biodegradation may have been underestimated because sampling was not scheduled on the addition of effluents in the prototypes : the part of the degradation occuring between the addition of effluents and the next sampling was not taken into account.

Glyphosate and AMPA

Glyphosate is a systemic herbicide, top selling in France. Glyphosate and AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic acid, major breakdown product of Glyphosate) are the widest substances detected on the measuring points in surface waters in France[i].

On the 4 prototypes, 6,2 kg of glyphosate were captured indicating that glyphosate represent 65% of the global polluant load in the storage tanks .

The bacterial reduction of the Glyphosate pollution load is about  80% on average.

AMPA degradation was observed but the actual degradation rate could not be calculated because of simultaneous production resulting from glyphosate breakdown.

Copper

Copper is a phytosanitary product used to protect cultures, especially  in wine cultivation and arboriculture. 736 g of copper was captured by the PhytoBarre prototypes. Despiste its antibacterial properties, it had no impact on bacterial biodegradation. Copper clearance of effluents occured by sedimentation down to the bottom of the storage tank, as for supended particles (clay).

Conclusion

In 2015, the results indicate a  82% reduction of pollution load on average for the 82 active substances identified in the storage tanks .

The 2016’s results, are expected to confirm the efficiency of the PhytoBarre process.


[i] Les pesticides dans les cours d’eau français en 2013- Chiffres&statistiques- Commissariat général au développement durable-novembre 2015.