Radon and tritium measurements in drinking water in a region of central Italy (Umbria)

Summary

In the last years the interest in drinking and mineral water radioactivity has grown. Recently national and EU regulations replaced the previous drinking water norms with the aim to strengthen consumers security concerning drinking water quality. Perugia and Urbino Universities carried out a joint study on the radiological characterization of the water destined for human consumption in the Umbria region. The aim of this work was to produce a map of the radon and tritium concentrations in the water of this area as a basis for the implementation of hydrogeological knowledge and to determine a possible related radiological risk for the local population.²²²Rn measurements were performed by liquid scintillation and gamma-spectrometry and³H measurements by liquid scintillation. Up to now, the²²²Rn concentrations ranged 5.9-65.79 Bq/l and³H concentrations are always lower than the detection limit (8.6 Bq/l).