The line graph illustrates the percentages of river water that with good chemical quality in UK rivers from 1990 to 2002.
Overall, what stands out from the graph is that Wales had the highest percentage of good-quality river water for most of the period, and the second position belonged to Northern Ireland river. However, they swapped positions in the later years. Another interesting point is that Scotland’s river had the lowest chemical quality at the beginning years, and despite fluctuations over the years, it came to this position again in the last year.
More specifically, Wales’s river had the best quality with over 90% in 1990 and it remained stable until 1998. After that, the figure decreased to just under 90% in 2000, which then fell to 80% in 2002. When we look at Northern Ireland’s river it had the opposite trend. The figure started at around 85% in 1990 and stayed unchanged until 1998. Then it increased to over 90% in the following years, which meant it overtook Wales’s river’s position.
By contrast, England’s river started at approximately 40% in 1990 and gradually rose to 70% in 1996. After that, the figure dramatically dropped to 30% in 1998, but in the coming two years it grew to around 50%. Furthermore, Scotland’s river recorded at just around 25% in 1990, then it climbed minimally to 30% and sharply to just under 50% in 2000. Meanwhile, in 2002 the figure went down to 40%, making Scotland the country with the lowest proportion of good-quality river water n 2002.