Groundwater quality
The quality of groundwater determines its value as a resource and how it affects surface-water ecosystems. 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 (for example, nitrates; trace metals; microorganisms) to new and emerging contaminants (like pharmaceutical compounds).
Collecting a water chemistry sample from a piezometer on Wybunbury Moss in Cheshire, England. 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.
Our water quality research
Baseline chemistry of groundwater in UK aquifers
Characterising the baseline groundwater chemistry for aquifers in Great Britain.
Diffuse pollution
Investigating pollution that comes from widespread activities in current and past environments.
Environmental tracers and groundwater dating
Dating groundwater by using various chemicals, including CFCs and tritium.
Groundwater and health
Researching groundwater quality in relation to human health.
Groundwater ecology and biodiversity
Understanding the life forms that live in groundwater.
Point-source pollution of groundwater
Research into pollution discharged from a discrete location.
Methane in UK groundwater
Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas and a common trace component of groundwater. BGS has been studying CH4 in UK groundwaters since the 1980s.
Groundwater protection
Groundwater is vulnerable to contamination from a wide range of human activities including agriculture, urbanisation, waste disposal, past and present industry and from pollution incidents.