Groundwater Ambient Network (GWAN) – Water quality

Program start date

The first recorded water quality reading was from bore number 287 taken in 1898. However, the first water quality reading for a state government bore was from bore RN 13610252 taken on 14 December 1914.

Program end date

Ongoing

Objectives of the program

This program aims to provide:

• Information to assist in the management and assessment of Queensland’s underground water resources
• A minimum groundwater water quantity information dataset to assist water resource planning processes 

Who is involved?

Lead organisation

Department of Natural Resources and Mines

Partner organisations

Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services (notional program for sample analysis)

List of indicators monitored

Manual sampling at all sites:

• General parameters – major Ions
• Unfiltered nutrient samples – total nutrients (total phosphorus and total nitrogen)
• Filtered nutrient samples – speciated nutrients (orthophosphate, oxidised nitrogen, ammonium)
• In-situ (on-site) sampling at all sites may include:
  • Electrical conductivity at 25º C
  • pH at 25º C
  • Temperature
• Continuous time series measurements at a subset of sites:
  • Electrical conductivity at 25º C
  • pH at 25º C
  • Temperature

Scale of program

Statewide

Brief description of sampling locations

The Groundwater Ambient Network (GWAN) is a sub-set of the Groundwater Water Level Network and consists of 563 bores across Queensland.

Frequency of monitoring

Monitoring frequency is defined in the approved network list and is variable.

Where is the program reported?

GWAN is typically used for baseline data for a range of projects, including coal seam gas development and other mining activities. Data collected through the GWAN is also reported as part of the State of the Environment Report.

Data is available on request to water.monitoring♲dnrm.qld.gov.au 

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Last updated: 22 March 2013