Agricultural runoff is a major contributor of pollution to our inland and coastal waters (EPA 2007). Container crops are grown mostly on an impervious surface under a high volume of irrigation water, and as a result, the agricultural runoff from these sites can carry a considerable amount of nutrients to ‘downstream’ receiving waters. An eco-WEIR activated agricultural vegetated buffer system was installed at an ornamental container plant nursery in Havana, Florida as part of a pilot study to evaluate its effectiveness for removing nitrate and phosphate from irrigation runoff. During the peak growing season, when N&P fertilizer concentrations are greatest, average removal efficiencies over the 24-hour retention period for nitrate and phosphate were 56% and 52%, respectively. Additionally, approximately 2/3 of the inflow volume was available for storage and reuse.
