The need for confident pesticide risk management
Pesticides pose a widespread risk to water quality in Drinking Water Protected Areas. Water companies have been (1) challenged to take a more proactive approach to managing pesticide problems at source, and (2) given greater flexibility and responsibility for monitoring and risk assessment.
Until recently, approaches to pesticide risk screening were often informal and sometimes yielded contradictory results, undermining regulatory confidence. In response, a WRc Portfolio collaborative research project co-funded by UK water companies led to the creation of RAPID: a database tool that provides a comprehensive and accessible resource for evaluating pesticide risks to drinking water.