The quality of groundwater determines its value as a resource and how it affects surface-water ecosystems. The BGS researches all aspects of groundwater quality, from assessing natural chemical variations and their controls and effects to the effects of pollution from agriculture, industry and urban sources. The scope of our pollution research ranges from long-established and legacy contaminants (e.g. nitrate; trace metals; microorganisms) to new and emerging contaminants (e.g. pharmaceutical compounds).
Pumping groundwater from the Chalk, Suffolk. BGS © UKRI.
We collaborate with government departments, academia, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and industry to contribute to process understanding in groundwater quality and support efforts to protect and regulate groundwater resources, both in the UK and overseas.
Key resources
- Baseline reports (England, Wales, and Scotland)
- Shale gas
- Nitrate time bomb
- Water quality factsheets produced by BGS for WaterAid by country and by element.