RADIOACTIVITY IN DRINKING WATER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1962 RESULTS
During 1982 the concentration of strontium-90 and cesium-137 has been measured regularly in twenty-four public drinking waters. Virtually none was found in deep well waters at Brighton and Wolverhampton. Very low concentrations were found in the Folkestone supply from shallow wells at Denge Beach. In the only water derived from a chalk stream, Southampton, the level of strontium-90 was low (0.085 picocurie/litre). In the river-derived waters except Southampton and London, the average level of strontium-90 was 0.36 picocurie/litre; London's water was somewhat higher than this (0.43 picocurie/litre). Excluding London's River Thames water (the average level of which was 0.55 picocurie/litre), the average concentratlon of cesium-137 in river-derived waters was 0.037 picocurie/ litre. The average annual level of strontium-90 in individual impounded waters ranged from 0.37 picocurie/litre to 1.03 picocurie/litre; the average annual level for all these waters was 0.81 picocurie/litre. The average annual concentration of cesium-137 in impounded waters was 0.23 picocurie/litre; annual averages for the individual supplies ranged from 0.037 picocurie/litre to 1.10 picocurie/litre. The average daily ingestion of strontium-90 and cesium137 in drinking water in 1962 is estimated at 0.41 picocurie per person and 0.16 picocurie per person respectively. These amounts are small compared with the average daily intake in the diet. The measurement of the principal fission products in drinking water has confirmed that strontium-90 is the most important one to determine. Water in the upper reaches of streams has been shown in general to contain only a small fraction of the iodine-131 present in rain. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Gt. Brit. Ministry of Housing and Local Government, London; Gt. Brit. Secretary of State for Scotland. Scottish Development Dept., Edinburgh; and Northern Ireland. Ministry of Health and Local Government, Belfast
- NSA Number:
- NSA-18-004023
- OSTI ID:
- 4135690
- Report Number(s):
- NP-13388
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- English
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