Groundwater and health

Boy drinking from a tap ©iStockphoto.com/jyoti thakur

Research into groundwater and health in the BGS is focused on a number of themes, such as the impact of urbanisation on groundwater quality in the developing world, and a range of water quality issues, such as heavy metal concentrations and pathogens.

We work on groundwater and health in the UK and internationally with a wide range of partners including government departments and international aid agencies.

Groundwater and health themes

the impact of agriculture
effects of industrial activity
the impacts of urbanisation in developing world

Specific health risks

Arsenic
Biological pathogens
Fluoride
Molybdenum
Uranium

Bottled water from the British Isles

We published a survey of the inorganic chemistry of bottled water from the British Isles.

WaterAid factsheets

BGS collaborated with WaterAid to characterise the inorganic quality of groundwater in the countries in which WaterAid works.

Groundwater quality factsheets by country: Information sheets aiming to identify inorganic constituents of risk to health that may be present in groundwater in Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, East Timor, eSwatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Northern India, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Southern India, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.
Water quality factsheets by element: These element sheets aim to explain the nature of the health risk for each constituent, the origin and occurrence in groundwater, the means of testing and available methods of mitigation. Elements covered are arsenic, fluoride, iodine, manganese and nitrate.
Impact of agriculture, industry and urbanisation factsheets: The three sheets in this series (agriculture, industry and urbanisation) complement previous information sheets on specific groundwater quality parameters and for target WaterAid countries, and should be read in conjunction with these.