England Water Quality Data with 72 Million Observations Since 2000

Over 72 million water quality observations derived from more than 5 million samples collected across England since the year 2000. The Environment Agency's dataset covers rivers, lakes, canals, groundwater, and coastal waters, including physical parameters, nutrients, metals, and contaminants. Data is processed and verified with a short delay before being added to the archive.

Use Cases

• Modeling nutrient pollution trends based on nitrate and ammoniacal nitrogen measurements.
• Assessing metal contamination in water bodies based on iron, zinc, copper, nickel, and lead data.
• Monitoring physical water conditions based on temperature, pH, conductivity, and turbidity readings.
• Tracking emerging contaminant levels based on PFAS and pesticide analyses.
• Analyzing sediment characteristics based on grain size fractions and particle size metrics.

Strengths

• Over 72 million observations from tens of thousands of sampling points.
• Covers all major water body types across England.
• Includes a broad suite of determinand groups from physical parameters to emerging contaminants.
• Data is processed and verified through routine quality assurance processes.

Limitations

• Not all datasets are complete or used for regulatory purposes; some records may have gaps.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The Explorer does not validate or interpret the underlying data; it only provides access.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency

Collection Method

Field measurements and laboratory analysis of samples collected from monitoring points.

Time Range

Since 2000

Freshness

Updated within two working days of a new sample, with a monthly refresh for corrections.

Geography

England