Progress of Cryogenics and Isotopes Separation , ISSN: 1582-2575
2013, Volume 16, Issue 2

 Tritium Level in Drinking Water at ICIT

Abstract

The European Union, the United States, Australia and Finland use variations of the WHO approach to arrive at differing guideline reference levels of tritium in drinking water. The Tritium guideline reference values for drinking water vary from 76.1 kBq/L in Australia, to 30 kBq/L in Finland, to 10 kBq/L in Switzerland, 7 kBq/L in Canada, to 740 Bq/L in United States, and finally to 100 Bq/L in European Union. The adoption of 100 Bq/L as indicator parameter for tritium level in drinking water according to Council Directive 98/83 EC imposes a strict evaluation of the tritium level of drinking water at ICIT.

Although all wells near the industrial estate are out of use and the drinking water is supplied through pipelines from a groundwater source (about 9 km distance from ICIT), the influence of the precipitation in drinking water in the area was indicated. The mean value of annual tritium concentration in drinking water during 2010-2012 periods varied between 0.89+/-0.25 Bq/L (2012) and 1.13 +/-0.25 Bq/L (2011), below the mean value of annual tritium concentration in precipitation for the same period. The level is far below 100 Bq/L, the indicator parameter of Council Directive 98/83 EC.