The Baseline Concentrations of Methane in Great British Groundwater - the National Methane Baseline Survey Groundwater Science Programme Open Report OR/15/071
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The Baseline Concentrations of Methane in Great British Groundwater - the National Methane Baseline Survey Groundwater Science Programme Open Report OR/15/071 BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GROUNDWATER SCIENCE PROGRAMME OPEN REPORT OR/15/071 The Baseline Concentrations of Methane in Great British Groundwater - the National Methane Baseline Survey The National Grid and other Ordnance Survey data © Crown Copyright and database rights 2015. Ordnance Survey Licence No. 100021290 EUL. R A Bell, Darling, W G, K Manamsa, B É Ó Dochartaigh Keywords Groundwater, Aquifer, Methane. Front cover Methane sampling in Lancashire. Bibliographical reference R A BELL, DARLING, W G, K Manamsa, B É Ó Dochartaigh. 2016. The Baseline Concentrations of Methane in Great British Groundwater - the National Methane Baseline Survey. British Geological Survey Open Report, OR/15/071. 45pp. Copyright in materials derived from the British Geological Survey’s work is owned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and/or the authority that commissioned the work. You may not copy or adapt this publication without first obtaining permission. Contact the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Section, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, e-mail [email protected]. You may quote extracts of a reasonable length without prior permission, provided a full acknowledgement is given of the source of the extract. Maps and diagrams in this book use topography based on Ordnance Survey mapping. © NERC 2016. All rights reserved Keyworth, Nottingham British Geological Survey 2016 BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY The full range of our publications is available from BGS shops at British Geological Survey offices Nottingham, Edinburgh, London and Cardiff (Welsh publications only) see contact details below or shop online at www.geologyshop.com BGS Central Enquiries Desk Tel 0115 936 3143 Fax 0115 936 3276 The London Information Office also maintains a reference collection of BGS publications, including maps, for consultation. email [email protected] We publish an annual catalogue of our maps and other publications; this catalogue is available online or from any of the Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham BGS shops. 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Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD Tel 020 7589 4090 Fax 020 7584 8270 Tel 020 7942 5344/45 email [email protected] Columbus House, Greenmeadow Springs, Tongwynlais, Cardiff CF15 7NE Tel 029 2052 1962 Fax 029 2052 1963 Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford OX10 8BB Tel 01491 838800 Fax 01491 692345 Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment, Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Ballymiscaw, Belfast, BT4 3SB Tel 028 9038 8462 Fax 028 9038 8461 www.bgs.ac.uk/gsni/ Parent Body Natural Environment Research Council, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1EU Tel 01793 411500 Fax 01793 411501 www.nerc.ac.uk Website www.bgs.ac.uk Shop online at www.geologyshop.com OR/15/071 Acknowledgements We are extremely grateful to BGS members of staff for their help and support during fieldwork, in particular Debbie White, Lindsay Holowka and Mick Strutt. Thanks also go to Pauline Smedley, Marianne Stuart and Rob Ward for their direction and technical advice. In addition to the BGS staff, a large number of individuals in the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), public water supply companies and private residents have contributed to the project through their assistance with sampling and collection of data. Of the many individuals who have contributed to the project we would particularly like to thank the following: Environment Agency: Laura Pender and Suze Southern (North West); Diane Steele and Andrea Lancaster (North East); Jan Hookey, Lucy Roberts, Polly Wallace (South East); Paula Awty (South); Stephanie Robson (South West); Andrew Pearson (Midlands); Dave Jones (formerly Wales). Natural Resources Wales: Gemma Harris, Kay Roberts, Cath Rees, Jim Hawker Southern Water: Sian Evans, Anthony Anderton, Dave West, Terry Smithson, Meyrick Gough South East Water: Jeanette Sheldon, Christopher Taylor, Harry Shotter Bristol Water: Rebekah Rice, Natasha Clements Sembcorp Bournemouth Water: Tony Read, Tony Primmer, Tim Latcham Portsmouth Water: Jonty Stead, Mark Botterill Wessex Water: Paul Stanfield Yorkshire Water: Mark Morton Northumbrian Water: Dave Kippling Severn Trent: Sid Priestley, Richard Winstanley Sutton and East Surrey Water: Nicola Houlahan Thames Water: Mike Jones, Estelle Ferschneider, Gary Holton, Rose Wilkinson United Utilities: Phil Merrin Affinity (Veolia Water): John Simpson We would also like to thank the owners of privately owned boreholes who allowed us to sample and the University of Birmingham, especially Leon Halwa, for their contributions to the investigation of boreholes in South Wales. i OR/15/071 Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... i Contents .......................................................................................................................................... ii Executive summary ....................................................................................................................... 1 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2 1.1 Project Background ........................................................................................................ 2 2 Methane and GB Groundwater ............................................................................................ 4 2.1 Methane and Associated Risks ....................................................................................... 4 2.2 Sources of Methane in Groundwater .............................................................................. 4 3 Survey Methodology .............................................................................................................. 6 3.1 Sampling Methodology .................................................................................................. 7 3.2 Analysis methodology .................................................................................................... 8 3.3 Quarterly Monitoring ...................................................................................................... 8 4 Results ..................................................................................................................................... 9 4.1 Regional Summaries ..................................................................................................... 10 4.2 Temporal variation in methane concentrations ............................................................ 28 5 Summary and recommendations ........................................................................................ 33 5.1 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 33 5.2 Recommendations for further work .............................................................................. 35 References .................................................................................................................................... 35 FIGURES Figure 1 Existing BGS methane data and the areas available for the DECC 14th Licensing round. .......................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2 The location of thermogenic and biogenic methane in the sub-surface. ..................... 4 Figure 3 Target areas for the Survey a) in 2012 when the Survey started and b) after the work of Bloomfield et al (2014) and the 14th Licensing round. .......................................... 6 Figure 4 a) Collecting unstable parameters during sampling and b) gas collection cylinder and samples for inorganic and organic carbon analysis. ................................................... 8 Figure 5 Samples collected as part of the National Methane Baseline Survey. ........................ 9 Figure 6 Bedrock geology of the Lancashire & Cheshire region ........................................... 11 Figure 7 Methane data from the SSG and Superficial aquifers in the Lancashire & Cheshire Basins. ...................................................................................................................... 12 Figure 8 Methane data from the Lancashire & Cheshire region, dots are proportional to the CH4 concentration. ................................................................................................... 13 Figure 9 Location of Survey samples in the East Midlands Province. .................................... 14 ii OR/15/071 Figure 10 a) Methane data from the East Midlands Province, for the SSG, Chalk and Lincolnshire Limestone. b) Comparison of methane data between the confined