Limerick City and County Council has warned farmers to reduce the number of silage effluent leakages into water in the county.

Its agricultural scientist Aidan Leonard called it a “particularly bad year” for spillage to date.

“During June 2019, eight cases of pollution resulting from silage effluent came to the attention of the Limerick City and Council,” Leonard said.

“One of these cases resulted in a serious fish kill, another caused serious pollution of a neighbouring well. Other cases gave rise to significant damage to the biology of the rivers and streams.”

Leonard advised farmers not to overfill silage pits or store silage on cracked concrete.

He asked members of the public to report “sewage fungus” if they saw it growing in local streams and rivers caused by effluent.