Historic GQA Headline Indicators of Water Courses - Nutrients - phosphate GQA grades 2010

Historic water quality grades for phosphate and nitrate in Welsh rivers and canals from 2010, based on the General Quality Assessment Headline Indicator scheme. The Environment Agency collected data from approximately 800 sampling sites covering about 4700 km of watercourses. The scheme graded nutrient concentrations on a scale from 'Very low' to 'Excessively high' to provide a consistent assessment of water quality.

Use Cases

• Assess historical phosphate pollution levels in Welsh rivers based on the provided concentration grades.
• Compare nitrate concentrations across different watercourses using the defined grade limits.
• Track changes in water quality over time for specific sampling sites mentioned in the description.
• Analyze the spatial distribution of nutrient grades across the approximately 4700 km of monitored watercourses.

Strengths

• Covers approximately 4700 km of watercourses in Wales.
• Provides a defined grading scheme for phosphate and nitrate concentrations.
• Based on data from about 800 sampling sites.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is historic, with 2009 noted as the final year of the scheme.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency

Collection Method

General Quality Assessment Headline Indicator scheme sampling.

Time Range

2010

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-06 07:11:41.422944; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Wales