NATURAL RESOURCES - Water

The geology of the landscape can offer a wide variety of natural resources which may not link directly to the actual use of the rocks as a mineral source or building medium. For example, the Permian sandstone on Arran is a porous and permeable rock unit which makes it an ideal aquifer. The nature of the sandstone facilitates the transmission of water.

Boreholes can be sunk into the rock and water may be extracted for industrial or domestic use. Often, the water is of good quality and requires no treatment to be potable. Water passes through the surface sediment and other rock types and becomes naturally filtered as the aquifer recharges. It is important to quantify the aquifer’s ability to supply water over a given time, and to also know the rate at which recharge occurs. This is so the extraction rate does not exceed that of recharge, otherwise the aquifer may lose it’s ability to fully recharge.

Click on thumbnails to find out more about drilling for water on Arran, carried out by the British Geological Survey.