According to an investigation by the New York Times, the US is using up its groundwater at an alarming rate, threatening to squander a resource that is the backbone of the country’s farming system. Data analysis found that in the past decade, four of every 10 groundwater sites in the country hit all-time lows. This […]
Growing number of studies detect antibiotics, medicines and caffeine in groundwater (europa.eu) Production and use of medicines, antimicrobial and pharmaceutical products, is increasing globally – along with the risk of their ingredients and breakdown products reaching the environment. The effects of such contamination may carry both human and ecosystem health risks. Antibiotics in soil and […]
How old is your water? It may seem like a peculiar question at first, but there are real implications to how long a drop of water has spent underground. Research suggests that the water cycle is speeding up in some places as a result of human enterprise. Scientists at UC Santa Barbara discovered […]
It was World Water Day on 22nd March, with a special focus on Groundwater. Most of Europe’s drinking water and a significant proportion of water used in irrigation come from groundwater. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published on World Water Day, provides a European overview of this key resource that is under increasing pressure […]
From Defra The Government has unveiled proposals to improve water quality and regulate activities that affect water supplies which are intended to: modernise the system of licensing water abstraction – when water is taken from the environment for use in farming, food manufacturing and public water supplies – by giving businesses and other licence holders […]
The European Commission has published its latest implementation report on the Nitrate Directive. It shows only a slight improvement in agricultural nitrates pollution. The report concludes that nitrate levels in groundwater and surface freshwaters have “slightly improved” since 2008. Nitrates were still above 50 mg/l at over 13% of monitoring stations 2012-2015, compared to 14% […]
The water sector has the skills and technologies to exploit the huge reservoirs of heated mine water around the country. Scotland leading the way deploying this technology. 1. Abandoned collieries could hold key to heating UK homes – Geologists aim to tap reservoir in tunnels under Glasgow Guardian Robin McKie Science editor Scientists are finalising plans to […]
Groundwater updates – This site provides a full list of the updates https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/groundwater-protection These include: Protect groundwater and prevent groundwater pollution Groundwater protection technical guidance Groundwater protection position statements Land contamination groundwater compliance points: quantitative risk assessments & fourteen more