UK water quality data sources compared

flood warnings; river levels; water quality; Met Office forecasts; carbon data

Resolution: Unknown

storm overflow map; storm overflow data; UK water-sector open data

Resolution: per overflow

UK river levels and rainfall, bathing waters, flood warnings, weather, earthquakes and the GB…

Resolution: Unknown

river flow 15-min instantaneous (m3/s); river flow daily mean/min/max (m3/s); river level 15-min instantaneous (m); river level daily min/max (m); rainfall 15-min total (mm); rainfall daily total (mm); groundwater level dipped (mAOD); groundwater level logged, sub-daily (mAOD); water quality 15-min instantaneous: dissolved oxygen (% and mg/L), fDOM (RFU), blue-green algae (RFU), turbidity (NTU), chlorophyll (µg/L), conductivity (µS/cm), temperature (°C), ammonium (mg/L), nitrate (mg/L as N), pH

Resolution: typically 15 min (sub-daily) and daily

bathing water classification

Resolution: Unknown

sampling points; water quality observations

Resolution: sampling points

site classifications (CSV); classification tables; challenges tables (CSV); objectives tables (CSV); measures information; protected areas (CSV); boundary/GIS geometry (Shapefile, GeoJSON); all data summary tables

Resolution: WFD water bodies

nutrients from waste water; nutrients from current land use; nutrients from future land use; nutrients removed through SuDS; final nutrient budget (net change plus buffer)

Resolution: Unknown

Land cover datasets; Hydrology datasets; Water quality datasets; Climate and climate change datasets; Soil datasets; Biodiversity datasets

Resolution: Unknown

surface temperature (TEMP, °C); surface oxygen saturation (OXYG, % air-saturation); Secchi depth (SECC, m); alkalinity (ALKA, µg/l as CaCO3); pH; ammonium (NH4N, µg/l); nitrate (NO3N, µg/l); soluble reactive phosphate (PO4P, µg/l); total phosphorus (TOTP, µg/l); dissolved reactive silicon as SiO2 (SIO2, µg/l); phytoplankton chlorophyll a (TOCA, µg/l)

Resolution: Single fixed point (buoy at deepest part of lake); weekly to fortnightly sampling; water samples integrated 0-5 m

water chemistry; ecological quality metrics; River Habitat Survey data (substrates, flow types, aquatic vegetation, channel and bank materials, modifications, riparian land use, tree cover, Habitat Modification and Habitat Quality indices); macro-invertebrate taxonomic and abundance data; diatom taxonomic and abundance data; headwater quality indices derived from invertebrate and diatom communities; associated environmental data

Resolution: Survey within 1 km squares; site locations published at centres of 10 km OS grid squares (spatial resolution 10000 metres); temporal: summer surveys 2021-2023, no finer temporal resolution stated

nitrogen load; phosphorous load (dissolved and total); fine-grained sediment load; sector source apportionment (diffuse and point sources)

Resolution: Spatial: WFD cycle 2 waterbody/catchment scale. Temporal: annual (tonnes per year)

macroinvertebrate taxonomic abundance (1,519 monitoring sites); 41 water quality determinands; river flow exceedance statistics; air temperature; sewage effluent exposure; habitat quality; upstream catchment land cover; site physical parameters: altitude, slope, distance from source, channel width and depth, substrate type

Resolution: 1 metre (spatial, as listed in metadata)

pH; conductivity; alkalinity; aluminium; calcium; chloride; ammonium; nitrate nitrogen; phosphate phosphorous; potassium; sulphate sulphur; sodium; total nitrogen; total dissolved phosphorous

Resolution: Spatial: 100 metres (metadata field). Temporal: weekly dip samples.

weekly water quality monitoring; major nutrient fractions; anions; cations; metals; pH; alkalinity; chlorophyll

Resolution: Weekly sampling; spatial resolution 100 metres as stated in metadata

chemical variables; biological variables; physical variables; water quality; chemistry; crustacean zooplankton; silica concentrations; phosphorus; chlorophyll concentrations; water clarity; temperature; waterfowl counts (1968-2007); diatom counts (1968-2007); bed sediment phosphorus determinands (2004-2005)

Resolution: Unknown

rainfall hydrochemistry; river/stream hydrochemistry (7-hourly); over 50 chemical determinands; in-situ water temperature; Raw Data Archive (RDA) variants

Resolution: 7-hourly sampling (temporal); spatial resolution not stated (point sampling at gauged sites)

monthly dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration; water colour (1883-1990); DOC concentration (1990-2014)

Resolution: Monthly temporal; single basin-outlet location (Thames at Hampton / Teddington), tabular with no spatial grid

This data series includes continuous monitoring data for both hydrological and hydrochemical variables at four instrumented riverine sites and continuous CO2 exchange data for three instrumented terrestrial sites. In addition to these continuous monitoring data sets there are data sets from intensive campaigns at six sites aimed at characterising the cycling of both carbon and nitrogen in both riverbed sediments and terrestrial soils with additional data on the microbiology driving some of the k

Resolution: Unknown

Continuous measurements of temperature, pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen from river water at ten sites located within the rivers Swale, Derwent, Aire, Calder, Trent, Ouse and Nidd. Part of the Land Ocean Interaction Study (LOIS) project. Hydrolab H20 water quality monitors were installed at ten sites and used to log water temperature, pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen between 1994 and 1997. Data were collected continuously at 30 minute intervals (for periods of variable lengths dependin

Resolution: Unknown

Modelled predictions of annual pollutant loads in rivers from agricultural source areas for Scotland, reported at Water Framework Directive (WFD) catchment scale. The modelled pollutants include total phosphorous, nitrate (NO3-N), faecal indicator organisms (FIOs), suspended solids, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) gas emissions. The agricultural source areas include arable land, improved grassland, rough grazing land and others (e.g. steadings, tracks and other non-field losses). Modelled

Resolution: Unknown

This dataset contains information about water quality based on faecal indicators at eighteen lakes in each of three lake districts: - Greater Glasgow conurbation, Scotland - Cumbria, NW England - Norfolk, E England. Lakes were sampled once in each of three seasons (spring, summer and autumn) in either 2016 (Norfolk) or 2017 (Cumbria and Greater Glasgow) with faecal indicators being quantified at three discrete sampling stations in each lake (>50m apart) and at three points at each station (i.e.

Resolution: Unknown

This dataset contains a time series of species-specific fish abundances and covariates for 1180 fish sites in English rivers. Sites with at least ten annual fish surveys in the Environment Agency’s (EA) National Fish Population Database (NFPD) between 1975 and 2017 inclusive were selected. Covariate data include habitat quality indicators (River Habitat Survey and HABSCORE outputs), climatic variables (Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Oscillation indices), land-use change, river hydrology, water t

Resolution: Unknown

Data consist of modelled estimates of observed/expected Biological Monitoring Working Party (an index for measuring the biological quality of rivers using selected families of macroinvertebrates as biological indicators) scores for freshwater streams across Great Britain (GB). The BMWP scores (1-10) are based on the principle that macroinvertebrates differ in their perceived sensitivity or tolerance to organic pollution (i.e. nutrient enrichment). Values greater than 1 indicate high water qualit

Resolution: Unknown

This dataset consists of results of chemical analyses of single water chemistry samples, taken from headwater streams during a survey in 2007. Water samples were analysed at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology for chemical analysis of alkalinity (at pH 8.3), total oxidised nitrogen and soluble reactive phosphorus. Conductivity and pH were measured in the field using a regularly calibrated field meter. Data were collected under the Countryside Survey long term monitoring project managed by the Cen

Resolution: Unknown

This data set comprises of hourly physical and nutrient monitoring data of the River Enborne near Brimpton (National grid reference SU568648), from November 2009 to February 2012. Parameters measured are total reactive phosphorus, nitrate, conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and total chlorophyll. The accompanying hourly averaged flow data (from the EA flow gauging station at the same site) are also supplied. The monitoring programme was funded by the EPSRC, through the LIMPIDS proje

Resolution: Unknown

The time-series data for the River Enborne and The Cut have been produced as part of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council-funded Limpids project. They both provide hourly physical and chemical monitoring data for two contrasting tributaries of the River Thames; The Cut being a highly urbanised catchment receiving large quantities of sewage effluent from major towns, whereas the River Enborne is relatively rural, receiving sewage effluent from smaller sewage treatment works. The

Resolution: Unknown

This dataset contains monthly/annual time series of species-specific abundances and covariates for 137 targeted larval/juvenile fish surveys at sites in a range of English lowland rivers. Larval/juvenile fish data come from two different sources: The Environment Agency’s (EA) National Fish Population Database (NFPD) between 1974 and 2017 and a dataset created by the University of Hull (UoH) between 1984 and 2017 inclusive. Biological data consists of density estimates of each fish species from e

Resolution: Unknown

This dataset contains weather conditions, water quality, water chemistry and crustacean zooplankton counts sampled at Loch Leven throughout the year 2024. Loch Leven is a lowland lake in Scotland, United Kingdom. The data were collected as part of a long-term monitoring programme, which began in 1968 and is still underway. Sampling occurs roughly every 2 weeks with laboratory analysis and data processing being performed at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Edinburgh site. The sampling and pr

Resolution: Unknown

A wide range of data has been collected from a variety of freshwater lakes in the English Lake District, ranging from fish characteristics to meteorological data and water chemistry. These data have been collected over a long period of time, in some cases since 1940 to date. Some of the the data were initially collected by the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) at Windermere, but have been collected by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and its predecessor Institute of Freshwater

Resolution: Unknown

This dataset contains particulate and dissolved organic carbon concentrations, nutrients (ammonia, nitrates, phosphate), alkalinity, pH, particulate organic nitrogen, delta-C-13 and delta-15-N isotopes, fluorescence and absorbance from river water samples. Data come from 41 rivers from around Great Britain, sampled on a monthly basis during 2017. LOCATE (Land Ocean CArbon TransfEr) is a multi-disciplinary project that undertakes coordinated sampling of the major rivers in Great Britain to establ

Resolution: Unknown

Estimates of annual loads of phosphorus, sediment, nitrogen and faecal coliform from non-agricultural sources to rivers in Scotland, reported at Water Framework Directive (WFD) catchment scale. The sources of pollutants include: urban, woodland, montane areas, river bank erosion, septic tanks and sewage treatment works. Loads are estimated based upon available data (e.g. septic tank licences) and modelling (bank erosion). The values specify phosphorous, nitrogen or sediment losses in kilograms p

Resolution: Unknown

This resource comprises two Jupyter notebooks that includes the model code in python to train a random forest model to predict long-term seasonal nitrate and orthophosphate concentrations at each river reach in Great Britain. The input features considered are catchment descriptors and land cover matched to the reaches. The training data is obtained from the Environmental Agency Water Quality Archive, 2010-2020. This method provides an effective way to map water quality data from stations to the

Resolution: Unknown

Estimates of in-river concentrations (mg/l) and loads (kg/day) of nutrients to rivers in England and Wales from multiple sector sources, modelled with SAGIS (Source Apportionment GIS). The nutrients include nitrate (mg/l N) and ortho-phosphate (mg/l P); the estimate loads are expressed as kilograms per day (kg/day) and the in-river concentrations as milligrams per litre (mg/l). Sources are both diffuse and point. Diffuse sources include livestock farming, arable farming, highways, urban runoff,

Resolution: Unknown

This dataset contains water chemistry and organic matter composition variables. Water chemistry variables include pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon, nutrients, anions, cations and metal concentrations. Organic matter composition variables include metrics calculated from carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen concentrations. Water samples were collected from UK surface waters between 2018 and 2021. Water was collected from each site either annually, seasonally or monthly

Resolution: Unknown

This dataset comprises water chemistry data for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total dissolved nitrogen (TdN), total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), absorbance at 254nm (Abs 254), specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA), and dissolved CH4, CO2, N2O collected at sites across the UK in 2021 and 2022. Data were obtained via collection of water samples in situ, and concentrations were derived via subsequent sample processing and analysis. Floating gas collection chambers were dep

Resolution: Unknown

Data from weekly water quality monitoring of the River Frome at East Stoke, Dorset (National Grid Reference SY 867868). The dataset consists of nitrate, soluble reactive phosphorus, dissolved silicon, pH, alkalinity, potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium concentrations for the entire 44-year monitoring period, with total phosphorus, total dissolved phosphorus, electrical conductivity, water temperature, chloride, sulphate and ammonium concentration data for periods within the monitoring perio

Resolution: Unknown

The dataset contains water chemistry data collected from peatland headwaters across the Flow Country following a wildfire in May 2019. Samples were collected on a monthly basis from 52 sites across the region from September 2019 to October 2020. Sampling sites were selected to represent peatland catchments in the following conditions: burned near natural, burned drained, unburned near natural, unburned drained and unburned forested. Data were obtained via collection of water samples in situ, and

Resolution: Unknown

These data consist of stream water chemistry for selected Welsh upland rivers. The sampling sites were located in sixty one small and medium catchments. Catchments were chosen from the Welsh Acid Water Surveys (WAWS) program (41 sites) and the Wye catchment (20 sites). Results for pH, alkalinity, conductivity and major cation and anion measurements are presented for the WAWS catchments. Results for pH, alkalinity, conductivity and major anion measurements are presented for the Wye catchment. Sam

Resolution: Unknown

These data sets provide chemical and biological data from common monitoring sites across the Thames Catchment. They comprise of comprehensive weekly water quality data at multiple sites along the River Thames and its tributaries, intermittently from 1997 to 2007 (UK Lowland River Chemistry data set), and then continuously at 22 monitoring sites at weekly intervals (from March 2009 to February 2013) as part of the CEH Thames Initiative Programme. These two chemistry data sets cover a period of ra

Resolution: Unknown