dataset · England
Water Quality Explorer
The Water Quality Explorer provides access to the Environment Agency’s water quality data collected from tens of thousands of sampling points across England. The dataset covers all major water body types, including rivers, lakes, ponds, canals, groundwater, and coastal and estuarine waters, and includes over 72 million observations derived from over 5 million samples collected since the year 2000. These observations include both field measurements taken in situ at sampling locations and a wide r
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Licence: ["There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the licence identified.", "There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the
Evidence quality: 55.4
Listed in data.gov.uk public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- in situ field measurements at sampling locations · laboratory-analysed water quality determinands · physical parameters (temperature, pH, conductivity, turbidity, salinity) · nutrients and general chemistry (nitrate, ammoniacal nitrogen, dissolved oxygen) · metals (iron, zinc, copper, nickel, lead) · organic, inorganic and emerging contaminants (hydrocarbons, pesticides, PFAS) · sediment characteristics (grain size fractions, particle size metrics)
- Coverage docs-verified
- England · since 2000
- Update frequency docs-verified
- Updated within two working days of a new sample being added; monthly refresh for QA updates or corrections
- Access docs-verified
- Free and open: no public access constraints; Open Government Licence v3.0
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Receiving-watercourse baseline water quality for FRA or EIA screening · Pre-development baseline of metals, nutrients and PFAS in rivers and groundwater near a site · Sediment grain-size and contaminant context for ground and site investigation near watercourses · Salinity and physical parameter context for coastal or estuarine outfall assessments
- Audience llm-inferred
- flood consultants · environmental consultants · hydrologists · drainage engineers · geotechnical engineers · ecologists
Limitations
- Constraints docs-verified
- Not all records are complete or used for regulatory purposes · Gaps may exist due to sampling, operational or environmental factors · Explorer does not validate or interpret the underlying data · Short delay between sample collection and data becoming available · Datasets may be updated, corrected or refined over time
Evidence
- https://environment.data.gov.uk/water-quality
- https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/583e771f-1af6-4934-b8f0-28f1d1ddd48c/water-quality-explorer
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.