Glossary: Milking Center Wash Water Treatment

These terms may help you make more accurate assessments when completing the Milking Center Wash Water Treatment Fact/Worksheet. They may also help clarify some of the terms used.

Land application: Application of wash water to croplands and pastures by irrigation equipment or a liquid manure spreader.

Slow surface infiltration: Application of wash water at one end of a gently sloping grass filter strip or terrace so that it is treated as it slowly flows through the plant-soil system. A portion of the flow percolates to ground water, and some is used by vegetation

Soil permeability: The quality that enables the soil to transmit water or air. Slowly permeable soils have fine-textured materials, like clays, that permit only slow water movement. Moderately or highly permeable soils have coarse-textured materials, like sands, that permit rapid water
movement.