Revealing the importance of groundwater for potable private supplies in Wales

Author:

Farr G.1ORCID,Ander E. L.2ORCID,James K.3,Kibble A.3ORCID,Jones D. A.4ORCID,Jones C.5

Affiliation:

1. British Geological Survey, Cardiff University Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK

2. British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK

3. Public Health Wales, 2 Capital Quarter, Tyndall Street, Cardiff CF10 4BZ, UK

4. Natural Resources Wales, Ty Cambria, 29 Newport Road, Cardiff CF24 OTP, UK

5. Powys County Council, Powys County Hall, Spa Road East, Llandrindod Wells LD1 5LG, UK

Abstract

At least 77 000 people across Wales rely on private water supplies for their drinking water, with 94% of these supplies dependent on groundwater. Potable private water supplies were mapped to Lower Super Output Area level, creating the first map of its kind for Wales. Some rural areas report nearly 43% of properties using private water supplies as their principal source of water. Simplifying the complex geology of Wales into ‘hydrostratigraphic units’ shows that 97% of private water supplies are sourced from secondary aquifers that have low productivity and storage. Ordovician and Silurian bedrock aquifers and associated Quaternary deposits support nearly 75% of all private water supplies. The total volume of groundwater abstracted by licensed and unlicensed potable private water supplies across Wales is estimated at 24.6 Ml day −1 . In times of drought many of Wales’ low-storage aquifers can experience insufficiency events. During 2018, reports of 132 dry supplies were collated; however, we suspect that many cases were not reported. In a changing climate with more extreme weather events, and as working from home becomes more common, private water supply users in low-storage and low-permeability aquifers may find themselves at increasing risk of insufficiency events. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Climate change and resilience in Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/climate-change-and-resilience-in-engineering-geology-and-hydrogeology

Funder

Natural Environment Research Council

Publisher

Geological Society of London

Subject

Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous),Geology,Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology

Reference34 articles.

1. Variability in the chemistry of private drinking water supplies and the impact of domestic treatment systems on water quality

2. ARUP 2021. Reducing uncertainty in Private Water Supply demands in Wales . REP/01. Job Number 278274-00. 23 rd April 2021 produced for Welsh Government.

3. BBC News Online. 2018. UK heatwave dries up water supplies in Llandeilo residences say https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-44935644 [last accessed 19 March 2021].

4. Analysis of groundwater drought building on the standardised precipitation index approach

5. The health and well-being effects of drought: assessing multi-stakeholder perspectives through narratives from the UK

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3