SURVEY OF THE ACIDITY OF RAINWATER OVER LARGE AREAS OF GREAT-BRITAIN

Information about the acidity of rainwater collected monthly from dustfall monitoring gauges at 100 low-dustfall sites in the U.K. has been assessed. The greatest rainwater acidity values occur in winter months at sites at the outskirts of towns in the centre of England. The least acidity values occur where there is apparently contamination from local sources of alkalinity such as soil, fly ash or ammonia, and also in areas where the local coal is low in chloride impurities. Changes in U.K. rainwater acidities over the last 50 years have been small except at the outskirts of towns, where the changes might be related to changes in fuel usages. © 1979.