I specialise in groundwater assessments including groundwater quality, environmental pollution studies and the application of novel environmental tracers. My research focuses on using advanced techniques, including isotopes, sensors and tracers, to understand groundwater recharge processes, groundwater-surface water interactions, soil-groundwater pathways for contaminants of emerging concern and diffuse contaminant sources in catchments. The research I lead is highly collaborative, across a wide network in BGS and with UK and International Partners. It has a key role in translating science into evidence for policy support, regulation, and sustainable water management in the UK and overseas.
Daniel Lapworth’s biography
- 2025 to present: Principal Hydrogeochemist (Band 3), BGS Keyworth
- 2025 to present: Visiting Professor, University of Surrey
- 2017 to 2025: Principal Hydrogeochemist (Band 4), BGS Wallingford
- 2017: PhD Hydrogeology, University College London
- 2011 to 2017: Senior Hydrogeochemist (Band 5), BGS Wallingford
- 2011 to 2012: Secondment, French Geological Survey (BRGM)
- 2007 to 2011: Hydrogeochemist (Band 6), BGS Wallingford
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2001 to 2007: Hydrogeochemist (Band 7), BGS Wallingford
- 2001: MRes Earth & Atmospheric Science, University of Reading
- 2000: BSc (Hons) Environmental Chemistry, University of Reading
Research interests
- Groundwater quality assessments and catchment studies, diffuse pollution and baseline mapping – Understanding UK and global challenges of groundwater quality and the critical role of groundwater in water supply
- International water resources and recharge assessments, impact of nature based and engineered solutions – Role of groundwater in water security, recharge studies and impact of anthropogenic pressures from pumping and climate change in UK, Africa and Asia
- Risks to soil and groundwater from contaminants of emerging concern – Assessing risks from agriculture, waste-water infiltration and biosolids
- Deep groundwater security and the role of mountain hydrology in sustaining lowland aquifer systems – Research in the Indus and Ganges Basins, Taiwan and urban groundwater use and security
- Application and development of tools and models for tracking nutrients and pollution – Residence time tracers, field sensors, method development for assessing microplastics in groundwater
ORCID: 0000000178387960
Publications
Dan has published more than 100 papers in peer review journals and has over 200 outputs.
Selected papers
- Mudimbu, D, Namaona, W, Sinda, M C, Brauns, B, Gooddy, D C, Darling, W G, Banda, K, Phiri, E, Nalivata, P C, Mtambanengwe, F, Mapfumo, P, MacDonald, A M, Owen, R J S, and Lapworth, D J. 2024. Groundwater recharge in basement aquifers in subhumid drylands of sub-Saharan Africa. Hydrogeology Journal, 32(8), pp.1993–2009.
- García‐Martín, E E, Sanders, R, Evans, C D, Kitidis, V, Lapworth, D J, Spears, B M, Tye, A, Williamson, J L, Balfour, C, Best, M, and Bowes, M. 2023. Sources, composition, and export of particulate organic matter across British estuaries. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 128(4), p.e2023JG007420.
- Lapworth, D, Boving, T, Brauns, B, Dottridge, J, Hynds, P, Kebede, S, Kreamer, D, Misstear, B, Mukherjee, A, Re, V, and Sorensen, J. 2023. Groundwater quality: global challenges, emerging threats and novel approaches. Hydrogeology Journal, 31(1), pp.15–18.
- Richards, L A, Guo, S, Lapworth, D J, White, D, Civil, W, Wilson, G J, Lu, C, Kumar, A, Ghosh, A, Khamis, K, and Krause, S. 2023. Emerging organic contaminants in the River Ganga and key tributaries in the middle Gangetic Plain, India: Characterization, distribution & controls. Environmental Pollution, 327, p.121626.
- Lapworth, D J, Das, P, Shaw, A, Mukherjee, A, Civil, W, Petersen, J O, Gooddy, D C, Wakefield, O, Finlayson, A, Krishan, G, Sengupta, P, and MacDonald, A M. 2018. Deep urban groundwater vulnerability in India revealed through the use of emerging organic contaminants and residence time tracers. Environmental Pollution, 240, 938–949.
- Lapworth, D J, Lopez, B, Laabs, V, Kozel, R, Wolter, R, Ward, R, Vargas-Amelin, E, Besien, T, Claessens, J, Delloye, F, and Ferretti, E. 2018. Developing a groundwater watch list for substances of emerging concern: a European perspective. Environmental Research Letters, 14, 035004.
- Lapworth, D J, Zahid, A, Taylor, R G, Burgess, W G, Shamsudduha, M, Ahmed, K M, Mukherjee, A, Gooddy, D C, Chatterjee, D, and MacDonald, A M. 2018. Security of deep groundwater in the coastal Bengal Basin revealed by tracers. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(16), 8241–8252.
- Lapworth, D J, Nkhuwa, D C W,Okotto-Okotto, J, Pedley, S, Stuart, M E, Tijani, M N, and Wright, J. 2017. Urban groundwater quality in sub-Saharan Africa: current status and implications for water security and public health. Hydrogeology Journal, 25(4), 1093–1116.
- MacDonald, A M, Bonsor, H C, Ahmed, K M, Burgess, W G, Basharat, M, Calow, R C, Dixit, A, Foster, S S, Gopal, K, Lapworth D J, and Lark, R M et al. 2016. Groundwater quality and depletion in the Indo-Gangetic Basin mapped from in situ observations. Nature Geoscience, 9(10), 762–766.
Selected reports
- Brauns, B, Gupta, V, Krishan, G, MacAllister, D J, Pathania, A, Lapworth, D J, and MacDonald, A M. 2026. Assessing the hydrological mechanisms and impacts on groundwater of the 2023 flooding in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. British Geological Survey, 56pp. (OR/26/024)
- Lapworth, D J, Danert, K, Eichholz, M, Gicheruh, C, Gronwall, J, Healy, A, Kebede, S, Lalika, M C S, Mwango, F, Villholth, K, and Tijani, M. 2023. Urban groundwater quality in Africa: benefits and challenges. AMCOW Pan-African Groundwater Programme (APAGroP), 3pp.
- Lapworth, D J, and Shockley, D J. 2022. Microplastics in UK groundwater and stygobites: protocols for sampling, analysis and pilot study results. Nottingham, UK, British Geological Survey, 26pp. (OR/22/015)
- Delaire, C, Poulin, C, Lapworth, D, Smedley, P, et al. 2021. Assessing groundwater quality: a global perspective: importance, methods and potential data sources. Friends of Groundwater in the World Water Quality Alliance, 59pp.
Published outputs
Skills
- Hydrogeochemistry
- Hydrogeology
- Catchment research: groundwater, soil quality assessments
- Design and implementation of field-based experiments
- Visualisation and data analysis
- Project management
- International geoscience, groundwater, sediment geochemical mapping
- Postgraduate training and Knowledge Exchange
Awards
Team awards
Professional associations
- 2025: Visiting Professor at University of Surrey
- 2025 to present: Guest Editor for Environmental Research Journal
- 2025 to present: Selection Board Member for NERC CROCUS Doctoral Landscape Award (University of Reading and Swansea University)
- Ongoing: Journal Editorial Board Member; Environmental Pollution and QJEGH
- 2023 to 2025: Associate Editor, Science of the Total Environment
- 2018 to 2024: Selection Board Member for NERC Doctoral Training Programme SCENARIO (University of Reading and University of Surrey)
- 2020 to present: Chair of the IAH commission on Groundwater Quality
- 2012: Member of the International Association of Hydrogeologist (IAH)
- 2011: Chartered Chemist, Royal Society of Chemistry
- 2003: MRSC, Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry
- 2000: Associate Member of Royal Society of Chemistry
Boards and commitees
- 2019 – present: Chair of IAH Groundwater Quality Commission
- 2021 – present: Member of the BGS EDI Steering group
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2022 – present: CROCUS Doctoral Landscape Award Selection Board Member
- Editorial Board Environmental Pollution
- Editorial Board Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology