The study determined the loads of selected chemical components deposited by precipitation and flowing away from the area of a small catchment used for agriculture and animal farming. The research was conducted in the hydrological years 2000 and 2001 in the Włosień stream catchment located in the western part of the Małopolska province. Water for analyses was sampled twice a month and examined for the concentrations of total suspended solids, ammonium and nitrate nitrogen, phosphates, dissolved substances, sulphates, chlorides, calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese and iron. Those values and the measured values of precipitation and outflow were used to compute the loads of the respective components. The mean annual loads of N-NH4, PO43-, Mn2+ and Fe2+/3+ did not exceed 2 kg ⋅ ha-1, those of N-NO3 approximated 10 kg ⋅ ha^-1, those of Mg²⁺ and K⁺ were of ca 20 kg ⋅ ha^-1, and the loads of Cl- exceeded 50 kg ⋅ ha-1. The other components were removed in greater amounts: SO₄^2- and Ca²⁺ – over 100 kg ⋅ ha^-1, and total suspended solids – over 200 kg ⋅ ha^-1. The largest loads carried away by water were those of dissolved substances – 791 kg ⋅ ha^-1. The loads of components delivered by precipitation were smaller than the loads carried away by outflow, except for ammonium nitrate, phosphates and manganese. A comparison of the results of this research with the findings from other studies confirmed that the agricultural and animal-farming use of a catchment contributes to the pollution of surface waters: the component loads flowing out of the area of the Włosień catchment were larger than for the catchments not brought under pressure from the keeping of farm animals.

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