Groundwater resources in the Lagan Valley Sandstone aquifer, Northern Ireland

Beneath Belfast and the Lagan Valley lies Northern Ireland's most important aquifer, the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone. Up to 300 m in thickness and with a total abstraction of around 31 000 m(3)/d, it is a modest aquifer by UK and world standards; nonetheless, it is an important local water source. The use of this aquifer system as a water supply will undoubtedly increase as growth of industry and population continues in the Belfast metropolitan area. Even with the mesic climate of Ireland, groundwater mining of this aquifer system is already occurring, and thus there is a need for detailed aquifer planning and protection to be implemented in order to preserve this resource for the future.