Historic River Quality Objectives for UK Rivers, 1997-2006

From 1997 to 2006, the UK Environment Agency classified water quality in significantly sized rivers using the River Ecosystem (RE) Classification Scheme. The scheme assessed rivers based on determinands including Biochemical Oxygen Demand, ammonia, dissolved oxygen, pH, hardness, copper, and zinc, with chemical samples taken 12 times a year. This record is a fixed, non-updating table of the River Quality Objectives (RQO) classification used for planning until the scheme ended in 2006.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical water quality trends based on the River Ecosystem (RE) classification classes 1-5.
• Studying the impact of specific chemical determinands like Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and ammonia on river ecosystems.
• Assessing compliance with River Quality Objectives (RQOs) for planning and regulatory review.
• Investigating the frequency and reasons for river quality failures based on the separate tables mentioned.

Strengths

• Data covers a defined 10-year period from 1997 to 2006.
• Classification scheme includes multiple chemical determinands (BOD, ammonia, dissolved oxygen, pH, hardness, copper, zinc) reflecting ecosystem requirements.
• Sampling was conducted at a regular frequency of 12 times per year.

Limitations

• The classification scheme ceased in 2006 and the table is fixed, meaning data is not current.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency

Collection Method

Chemical sampling and classification according to the River Ecosystem (RE) Classification Scheme.

Time Range

1997-2006

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-06 07:11:44.426304; freshness should be verified as the underlying data is historical.

Geography

United Kingdom (significantly sized rivers based on flow)