Agriculture & Aquaculture
In agriculture and aquaculture, bund lining is the chemically resistant barrier that keeps slurry, silage effluent, fertiliser, agricultural fuel oil and aquaculture process water safely contained.
Key Bund Lining Challenges in Agriculture & Aquaculture
Agriculture and aquaculture ask bund lining to handle chemistry the rest of industry rarely sees. Biogenic sulphuric acid above slurry, lactic acid from a silage clamp, ammonium nitrate solution from a bunded fertiliser tank and salt laden process water in a marine hatchery all attack concrete in ways that demand a sector specific specification. The challenges that shape every bund we line here include:
When Is This Required?
Common Agriculture and Aquaculture Applications
What is a soil bund? In farming, a soil bund is a low compacted earth or clay bank that slows runoff or holds low risk water, built as a land works activity separate from the engineered concrete and masonry containment we line. Where slurry, silage, fertiliser, fuel or process water sits above the soil, a properly lined containment structure keeps the operation legal and the assets protected. Common applications we line include:
Circular and rectangular slurry storage tanks, lagoons and slurry channels
Silage storage clamps, including walls, floors and effluent collection channels
Bunded fertiliser tanks for liquid AN, urea solutions and liquid NPK
Pesticide, herbicide and biocide store bunds
Agricultural fuel oil (red diesel) tank bunds and farm fuel compounds
Anaerobic digester feedstock pits, digestate stores and post-digestion lagoons
AD plant pump skid bunds and CHP plant rooms
Aquaculture grow-out tanks, raceways and concrete-lined ponds
Marine hatchery tanks, broodstock systems and recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS)
Sterilisation, depuration and shellfish purification tank bunds
Wash-down areas, biosecurity boot-dip floors and effluent treatment bunds
Agriculture and Aquaculture Regulatory Obligations
Agriculture and aquaculture sit under a regulatory framework most other industrial sectors never have to engage with and one that has tightened steadily over the last decade. The principal obligations and references we design to are:
The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (England) Regulations 2018
The core control on slurry, fertiliser and soil management.
The Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil Regulations (SSAFO) 2010
Equivalents apply across the UK, setting the design, capacity and integrity requirements for these storage types.
Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) Action Programme
Drives storage capacity and closed-period requirements for slurry and fertiliser.
The Code of Good Agricultural Practice (CoGAP)
Defra's working reference for storage and handling.
Environment Agency
PPG2 (oil storage) and farm-specific guidance on slurry, AD and digestate handling, with anti-pollution works notice powers.
The Anaerobic Digestion Quality Protocol and PAS 110
Relevant for AD plant operators.
Marine Management Organisation (MMO)
Authorisations and Aquaculture Production Business (APB) registration for fish and shellfish operators.
The Aquaculture Animal Health (England and Wales) Regulations
Drive biosecurity-led design choices for tanks and bunds.
COSHH
Applied to pesticide, biocide and treatment chemical stores.
BS 5502 series
Design and construction of agricultural buildings, including containment elements.
Recommended Lining Systems for Agriculture and Aquaculture
Resin selection here is dominated by biogenic acid attack, biosecurity and the realities of remote site work. Our typical palette is:
Epoxy Resins
Used on bunded fertiliser tanks, fuel oil compounds and lower-risk farm bunds, where chemistry is moderate and the duty is dominated by routine spillage rather than constant chemical attack.
Polyurethane Resins
Selected for outdoor exposure, thermal cycling and substrate movement, including silage clamp surrounds, AD plant bunds and external fertiliser compounds where the lining has to flex with the seasons.
Polyurea Resins
Rapid-cure systems for aquaculture tanks and slurry stores where the asset has to come back into service quickly. Particularly valuable in hatcheries where stocked tanks impose tight access windows.
Vinyl Ester Resins
The chemistry of choice for biogenic sulphuric acid attack in slurry headspaces, lactic acid in silage clamps, and the most aggressive ends of digestate exposure. Vinyl esters outperform standard epoxies wherever a real acid duty is present.
Novolac Epoxy Resin
Uprated chemistry for AD digester internals, hot wash-down areas and bunded chemical stores carrying concentrated agricultural inputs, where standard epoxies would soften or be chemically destroyed.
Speak to a Specialist
Our technical team can advise on the right system for your project.
Agriculture & Aquaculture FAQs
Farmers use bunds to contain slurry, silage effluent, fertiliser and fuel oil so any leak is captured before it reaches soil, watercourses or drains. Bunds above defined thresholds are a regulatory requirement under SSAFO and the wider agricultural pollution regulations.
Soil bunds, such as low compacted earth or clay banks, are the standard way to slow surface runoff and prevent erosion across sloping fields. Soil bunding is a land works exercise rather than an engineered containment system, and sits alongside, not instead of, the lined concrete bunds used for slurry, silage and fuel storage.
Around the wider land, bunds are usually compacted earth or clay formed during land works to manage runoff. Around tanks, lagoons and clamps, bunds are reinforced concrete, masonry or steel built to SSAFO, BS 5502 and (for fuel) the Oil Storage Regulations, and lined to deliver the chemical resistance the structural concrete cannot provide on its own.
Most farm bund linings, such as slurry tanks, fertiliser bunds, fuel oil compounds, are completed in five to ten working days, including substrate preparation. Rapid-cure systems can have a smaller bund back in service inside a single shutdown.
Aquaculture tank and raceway lining typically takes three to seven working days per tank, including biosecurity decontamination and full surface preparation. Multi-tank hatcheries and recirculating aquaculture systems are programmed in phases so stocked tanks remain in service throughout.
Run a visual inspection at least annually for slurry, silage and fuel oil bunds, with hydrostatic testing every three years for fuel storage and at the interval set by your environmental permit for slurry and digestate. Aquaculture tanks should be checked at every fallowing or stock change as part of the biosecurity routine.
A correctly specified and maintained lining typically delivers 15–25 years of compliant service in fertiliser, fuel oil and aquaculture duty. Slurry stores generally sit at the lower end of that range because of ongoing biogenic acid attack, with joint sealants and detail treatment usually needing replacement inside the period.
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