The control of soiled water represented the most significant overall reason for non-compliance in water quality inspections carried out by local authorities in 2025, according the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Agricultural Inspection Programme (NAIP) report.

Soiled water is defined in the Nitrates Directive as water from concentrated areas, hard standing areas or holding areas for livestock and other farmyard areas where the water is contaminated by livestock faeces or urine, silage effluent, chemical fertilisers, dairy or vegetable washings.

Soiled water represented approximately one third of all issues recorded in 2025 and increased sharply from 605 cases in 2024 to 1,079 cases in 2025.

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Some of the other main reasons for failing inspection in 2025 include discharges with potential to impact water quality, management of farmyard manure and slurry collection and storage.

Specific issues for non-compliance

Some of the most frequently identified specific issues contributing to non-compliance under each of the main categories, as detected by local authorities during farm inspections in 2025 include:

  • Uncontrolled runoff from farmyard manure - 856 cases.
  • Inadequate gutters and downpipes - 535 cases.
  • Clean water not properly segregated - 517 cases.
  • Insufficient control of soiled water - 356 cases.
  • Poor management of silage pits - 305 cases.
  • Inadequate slurry storage capacity - 248 cases.
  • Storage of silage bales in proximity to watercourses - 231 cases.
  • Silage effluent discharging to groundwater - 222 cases.

    • The EPA has said that these issues are mostly due to poor management practices and routine maintenance, rather than structural deficiencies.

    In many cases the issues can be rectified without substantial capital investment, the report details.