A methodology to determine pesticides pollution sources in water catchments: study case (Belgium)

In the Walloon Region (Belgium), a Committee of Investigation was created in 2007 to investigate and determine the potential pesticides pollution sources in drinkable water catchments. This Committee, constituted by a multidisciplinary team of experts i.e agronomists, soil scientists, phyto-chemists, hydrogeologists, is coordinated by the Walloon Agricultural Research Centre (CRA-W) and funded by the Société Publique de Gestion des Eaux (SPGE). The diagnosis method is inspired of the AQUAPLAINE method (Arvalis, France), and is composed of four steps: 1/preparing the diagnosis using existing data, 2/diagnosis using data bank completed by field observations, 3/meeting and discussion with the pesticide users, 4/final diagnosis and remediation proposal. In a rural district of Walloon Region, a water producer who possesses two catchments ("Les marroniers" (P1) and "Puits N2" (P2)) has problems with pesticides. The pollution started in 1998 with atrazine and bromacile detected in the two catchments. In 2004, 2,6-dichlorobenzamide, metabolite of dichlobenil, was also detected in the catchments. At present, all these pesticides are still found in the catchment P1 and only the 2,6 dichlorobenzamide is found in the other catchment. These active ingredients are not used in agriculture expect atrazine. Indeed, the main user of these products is the public sector. An investigation was realised to locate the main sites which are treated with these pesticides in this commune. The conclusion of this study is that the local authority used dichlobenil, bromacile and atrazine to weed the public areas. In more, the filling and the cleaning areas of sprayer, used for the treatment, are located near the catchments.