National methane baseline survey: results summary

Summary results

Since the beginning of the national methane baseline survey in 2012, a total of 248 new groundwater methane samples have been collected and analysed from five areas:

South Wales
East Midlands Province
Lancashire and Cheshire Basin
Cumbria and Northumberland
Southern England comprising Kent, East and West Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire

A number of groundwater methane values also exist for other areas from previous research projects, in particular central and southern Scotland and parts of south Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and areas around London. These datasets have been combined to provide a summary of methane concentrations in groundwater in these areas.

Area	Concentration (mg/l)			Number of samples
Area	Minimum	Median	Maximum	Number of samples
Central/southern Scotland	<0.0001	0.0036	1.68	31
Lancashire and Cheshire Basins	0.0002	0.0025	0.091	23
East Midlands Province	<0.00005	0.0009	1.32	93
Southern England	<0.00005	0.0013	4.72	251
South Wales	<0.0001	0.032	0.0483	25
Cumbria and Northumberland	<0.0002	0.00065	1.434	16
Cumbria (Environment Agency data)	<0.1	<0.5	14.2	836
Lancashire and Cheshire (Environment Agency data)	<0.01	<0.5	132	2842

Summary of the methane baseline results

Methane baseline samples have been collected from potable water supplies — either drinking water or groundwater quality monitoring boreholes. None of the samples in the aquifers used for public water supply have exceeded the explosive limit for methane. For additional information on research carried out by BGS on methane in groundwater apart from baseline surveys, please see our methane in UK groundwater research overview and the following key publications:

The hydrogeochemistry of methane : evidence from English groundwaters Darling and Gooddy (2006)
The potential for methane emissions from groundwaters of the UK Gooddy and Darling (2005)

Methane in UK Groundwater

Click on the regions on the map below to see initial results from the survey. In addition to methane data, there is a regional overview of the geology, aquifers and shale gas source rocks present. Areas with adequate methane data have been split by aquifer, in addition to a regional summary. Using data collected as part of the BGS and Environment Agency The Natural (Baseline) Quality of Groundwaters in England and Wales project, there is also a brief overview of the relevant aquifer’s groundwater quality. Further information on chemical indicators and trace elements that are not included in the summary can be found in the individual baseline reports.

Click on the regions on the map below to see results from the survey and more detail can be found in the summary report and recent publication.