Introduction Storage of livestock wastes involves accumulating manure and wastewater in an environmentally sound manner until they can be applied to land or otherwise utilized. Manure storage facilities allow farmers to spread manure when conditions are right for nutrient use by crops. Storing manure in a concentrated area, however, increases risk to the environment and to human and animal health. Fecal bacteria in livestock waste can contaminate groundwater, causing such infectious diseases as dysentery, typhoid and hepatitis. Livestock wastes if not properly managed can become a source of nitrate and disease-causing organisms to both surface water and groundwater.
Young livestock are alsosusceptible to health problems from high nitrate-nitrogen levels.
Dry manure can be stored in solid form in stockpiles, and liquid manure can be stored in tanks or earthen basins, or stored and treated in anaerobic lagoons. Manure storage facilities, if not designed or managed properly, can be potential sources of nitrate leaching to groundwater. For example, facilities for liquid manure storage sometimes leak or burst. Seasonal filling and emptying of earthen manure storage pits can cause damage to the organic and physical seal on the bottom and sides of the pit. Short-term solid manure storage and abandoned storage areas can also be sources of groundwater contamination by nitrates.