Editorial: Geochemistry and environmental overview of water quality, exposure, and linkages to livelihoods (GEO-WELL)

Introduction

Water is fundamental to life, agriculture, industry, and ecosystem functioning. However, the quality of water resources is increasingly compromised by a complex interplay of natural geochemical processes and human activities. Across many regions of the world, particularly in developing countries and semi-arid environments, groundwater and surface-water systems are undergoing significant chemical transformations. These changes are often driven by interactions among geological formations, hydrogeological processes, and anthropogenic pressures such as agricultural intensification, mining, industrial activities, and urbanization. Consequently, communities that depend on these water resources for drinking, irrigation, and domestic purposes face growing risks to their health, livelihoods, and environmental security.

This Research Topic was established to address these urgent challenges by bringing together interdisciplinary research on the geochemical and environmental dimensions of water quality. The Research Topic aims to advance understanding of fundamental processes, including water-rock interactions, ion exchange, hydrogeochemical evolution, and contaminant transport, while exploring how these processes influence environmental exposure, public health, and socio-economic outcomes. Central to the Research Topic is the recognition that water chemistry and human livelihoods are closely interconnected, and that sustainable water-resource management requires both scientific understanding and practical solutions.

The Research Topic brings together 11 original research articles from Africa, Asia, and South America that examine groundwater and surface-water quality, hydrogeochemical processes, contaminant occurrence, environmental exposure, monitoring approaches, treatment technologies, and livelihood implications. The contributions collectively address several major themes, including geogenic contaminants and associated health risks, anthropogenic influences on water quality, hydrogeochemical monitoring and characterization, contaminant assessment and mitigation, and emerging analytical approaches for water-resource evaluation. Through these diverse perspectives, the Research Topic highlights the value of integrating hydrogeochemistry, hydrology, environmental science, toxicology, public-health assessment, and environmental monitoring to address increasingly complex water-quality challenges.

Although the studies differ in geographical setting and methodological approach, they converge on a common objective: improving understanding of the natural and anthropogenic processes that govern water quality and influence human and ecological exposure. The Research Topic also reflects growing international concern regarding groundwater sustainability, contaminant occurrence, and water security under conditions of environmental change and increasing resource demand (Abanyie et al., 2023; Scanlon et al., 2023). By examining the links among water chemistry, environmental exposure, and livelihoods, GEO-WELL contributes to the broader effort to develop science-based strategies for protecting water resources and supporting sustainable development, as summarized in Figure 1.

Water quality, exposure, and human health

A dominant theme emerging from the Research Topic is the relationship between groundwater quality and human health. Groundwater remains the primary source of drinking water for many communities worldwide, particularly in regions where access to treated surface water is limited. However, naturally occurring and anthropogenic contaminants can significantly compromise its suitability for consumption.

Studies by Okyere and Sunkari, Seidu et al., and Kazapoe provide important insights into groundwater chemistry, fluoride enrichment processes, mobilization mechanisms of potentially toxic elements, and associated health risks in Ghanaian hydrogeological settings. Together, these investigations demonstrate how hydrogeochemical analyses, multivariate statistical techniques, and spatial assessment approaches can be integrated to identify contamination sources, characterize geochemical controls, and evaluate risks to exposed populations.

Similarly, El Mansour et al. evaluate groundwater suitability and nitrate-related health risks within a semi-arid Mediterranean environment, emphasizing the continued importance of groundwater-quality monitoring and health-risk assessment in regions dependent on groundwater supplies.

Beyond their regional significance, these studies reflect broader global concerns regarding exposure to geogenic and anthropogenic contaminants in drinking water. Recent groundwater research has emphasized the growing need for integrated monitoring, hydrogeochemical characterization, and risk-assessment frameworks to protect vulnerable populations from long-term exposure to harmful contaminants (Abanyie et al., 2023; Kubicz et al., 2026).

Hydrogeochemical processes and groundwater evolution

Understanding the processes that control groundwater chemistry represents another major focus of this Research Topic. Hydrogeochemical investigations provide essential information on aquifer characteristics, groundwater evolution, recharge mechanisms, and water-rock interactions that ultimately influence water quality and resource sustainability.

Edet et al. demonstrate the benefits of integrating hydrogeoelectrical and hydrogeochemical methods for characterizing crystalline basement and carbonate aquifers. Their work highlights the importance of multidisciplinary approaches for groundwater exploration and resource assessment in complex geological environments.

Likewise, Lu et al. employ hydrochemical indicators, isotopic techniques, and dynamic monitoring to investigate recharge sources and hydrogeochemical evolution within a saline lake system. Their findings demonstrate how integrated hydrochemical and isotopic approaches can improve understanding of groundwater circulation and recharge dynamics.

Collectively, these studies emphasize the fundamental role of geology in controlling groundwater chemistry and support growing recognition that integrated hydrogeochemical investigations are essential for evaluating aquifer vulnerability and long-term sustainability. Improved understanding of groundwater evolution is particularly important in regions experiencing increasing demands on water resources and accelerating environmental change (Scanlon et al., 2023; Bierkens and Wada, 2019).

Land use, water quality, and livelihoods

Water quality is closely connected to livelihood sustainability because water resources support domestic consumption, agricultural production, livestock management, ecosystem services, and economic development. Consequently, deterioration in water quality can directly affect household welfare and community resilience.

The work of Hipondoka et al. examines groundwater quality under different low-intensity land uses within a semi-arid savanna environment and demonstrates how environmental conditions and land-management practices can influence groundwater chemistry. The findings highlight the importance of balancing resource utilization with environmental protection in regions where livelihoods depend heavily on groundwater resources.

Across the Research Topic, a consistent message emerges: sustainable livelihoods depend upon sustainable water resources. Water-quality degradation can reduce agricultural productivity, increase treatment costs, limit economic opportunities, and exacerbate public-health burdens. These linkages are increasingly recognized as core components of water security and sustainable development, particularly in regions vulnerable to environmental change and groundwater stress (Onyena and Sam, 2025).

Monitoring, contamination, and treatment approaches

Another important contribution of GEO-WELL is its focus on contaminant monitoring and water-treatment interventions. Effective water-resource management requires not only identifying contamination sources but also developing practical strategies that reduce environmental exposure and improve water quality.

Wei et al. investigate household sand-filter systems and demonstrate both the opportunities and challenges associated with decentralized water-treatment technologies. Their findings emphasize the importance of comprehensive performance evaluations to ensure that treatment interventions achieve intended benefits without generating unintended consequences.

Environmental contamination is further explored by Qi et al., who employ biological methods to assess lead toxicity within riverine environments. Their study illustrates the value of ecotoxicological approaches for understanding environmental impacts that may not be captured fully through conventional chemical analyses alone.

Meanwhile, Abou El-Reash et al. contribute methodological advances relevant to trace-element analysis and environmental monitoring. Together, these studies demonstrate how innovation in environmental monitoring and analytical methodologies can strengthen contaminant assessment and support more effective management strategies.

Such efforts are increasingly necessary as contamination pressures become more diverse owing to urbanization, agricultural intensification, industrial development, and expanding groundwater use (Saxena, 2025; Izah and Ogwu, 2026).

Emerging analytical and data-driven approaches

An additional strength of the Research Topic is the application of advanced analytical and data-driven methods to water-quality assessment. Increasing availability of environmental datasets has created opportunities for more sophisticated approaches capable of identifying trends, evaluating environmental change, and supporting evidence-based decision-making.

The contribution by Ferreira et al. demonstrates how ensemble decision-tree methods and robust trend-analysis techniques can be applied to long-term water-quality datasets. Their work illustrates the growing role of machine learning, predictive analytics, and environmental informatics in hydrogeochemical investigations.

The integration of hydrogeochemistry with geospatial analysis, statistical modeling, and data science represents an important direction for future research. These approaches offer considerable potential for improving contamination-source identification, evaluating environmental trends, and supporting adaptive management strategies in increasingly complex water-resource systems.

Perspectives and future directions

Several priorities emerge from the Research Topic. These include strengthening long-term monitoring programmes, improving understanding of contaminant sources and transport pathways, expanding the use of geospatial and machine-learning techniques, and developing sustainable treatment technologies tailored to local environmental conditions. Equally important is the translation of scientific knowledge into practical policies and management strategies that enhance water security while protecting livelihoods.

Future research should increasingly integrate hydrogeochemical investigations with environmental exposure assessment, socio-economic evaluation, and predictive modeling to better understand how water-quality changes affect human wellbeing and development outcomes. Such integrated approaches, a focal point of this Research Topic, will be essential for managing water resources under conditions of increasing climatic variability and growing demand (Scanlon et al., 2023; Abdul-Wahab et al., 2026).

Conclusion

The GEO-WELL Research Topic provides a timely and comprehensive overview of contemporary advances in water-quality research across diverse hydrogeological and environmental settings. Through its 11 contributions, the Research Topic advances understanding of groundwater and surface-water geochemistry, environmental exposure pathways, contaminant monitoring, treatment technologies, and livelihood implications.

Taken together, the studies demonstrate that ensuring water quality is not solely an environmental objective but also a prerequisite for protecting public health, sustaining ecosystems, and supporting resilient livelihoods. By fostering interdisciplinary perspectives and innovative methodologies, GEO-WELL contributes valuable knowledge toward addressing global water-security challenges and promoting sustainable water-resource management in a rapidly changing world.

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Footnotes

Edited and reviewed by: Dipankar Dwivedi, Berkeley Lab (DOE), United States