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Radium?? Radium Water?? Here??

Posted by garym on July 29, 2008 - 9:01pm

Ok, not being on Town Water, I don't know enough about this to know where or what the 'Thompson Water System' is without looking it up, but isn't this just a bit of begging for explanation as to how it might be that said water system should become contaminated with a radio-active material? Note, this is not your regular Boil Water advisory:

The water is NOT safe for human consumption or food preparation. Boiling water will not reduce the levels of Radium 226. The water is safe to use for hand washing, bathing, showers, dishes and laundry.
[ Town of South Bruce Doc #41806695 ]

The release goes on to say water will be provided at the Community Centre between 9am and 6pm and, as with this notice, we will be 'notified' when they give the all-clear. The document is dated four days ago, but was not posted to the town site until today where it appears only as Foreman Water System 'Precautionary' Water Notice and in search-opaque PDF; because it is a scan of the Ontario Clean Water Agency's fax there is no easy-readable text-copy on The Crier, you have to download and read the PDF. Radium 226, for those wondering, is a by-product in the decay of Uranium. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

"Water-soluble forms mainly cause kidney injury, while the insoluble forms produce fibrosis and cancer of the lung. Because of its similarity to calcium, radium-226 is stored mainly in the bone, and it produces abnormal changes in the bone marrow, including anemia and leukemia, cancers of the bone, and paranasal sinuses"

Radium 226 has a half-life of 1602 years (one thousand, six hundred and two) -- Do note that the Thompson supply is already beyond "safe drinking limits" and note too that boiling your water does nothing about it.

So, now, I'm just curious: can anyone explain just how is it that in a far flung rural community a million miles from anywhere a toxic-level supply of decayed Uranium ended up in the Municipal-minded water pipes?

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Thompson Water System

Submitted by mxyzptlk on July 30, 2008 - 9:54am.

just a bit of info for those concerned. the thompson water system (shown in green) services a small number of lots just north of sixth street between the beach and the parkway.

  • radium occurs naturally and readily dissolves in groundwater where acid conditions (low pH levels) are found. you can read more here: radium in drinking water fact sheet
  • water softeners and reverse osmosis filters can remove most of it
  • studies show a relationship between radium-226 in drinking water and increased risk of bone cancer (1)

i wonder if nearby residents, not on the thompson water system, are aware of the problem. they must be getting their water from the same general area as the thompson water system well. can they get 'free' water from the town?
kltpzyxm

Drinking Water Standards Set Max Level

Submitted by Dodge on July 30, 2008 - 8:48pm.

There is an Ontario Regulation that sets drinking water standards. Normally these standards list a maximum limit.

Found here: http://www.canlii.org/on/laws/regu/2003r.169/20080716/whole.html

As you see the maximum for Radium 226 is .6 becquerels per litre. As it was reported the reading was .65 and this triggered an advisory. They expect to get the water within standard soon from what I gather. That is the way the system is supposed to work.

If this reported reading is correct then the level of radium is not much different than that which would challenge the body each day if the water supply content was just under statute limits.

There are a number of radiation sources that are dosing all living organisms every day and by and large most living things have evolved to tolerate a lifetime exposure from natural sources. It gets more complicated if you ingest the source and it is internalized in the body where an isotope can radiate nearby cells causing changes. Again we have evolved a small tolerance. These limits are factored in when water quality standards are created.

It gets much more complicated in the case of a smoker where a second larger daily source of isotopes is internalized. Here the literature says that the cancer risk of water bourne isotopes is greater than that which was predicted when the water quality standard was created based on water consumption alone. By this example I mean to show that water standards by themselves may be taken as absolute but are in reality highly influenced in impact by environmental variables. Medical xrays and plane travel add to cellular events from external radiation sources that we add to the total.

With water as with other things in life there is no such thing as zero risk. We may have some control over risk levels. Because of the mandated chemical analysis of bottled waters they may suggest a lower risk profile then your local groundwater source and as mxyzptlk has stated reverse osmosis can also purify your supplied water beyond the provincial standards. Water softeners should be ruled out because they add sodium.

Bottom line is I don't see much difference between the test that shut the system down and the limit under which it can continue operation.

Ah, ok. Never mind.

Submitted by garym on July 30, 2008 - 9:52pm.

Bottom line is I don't see much difference between the test that shut the system down and the limit under which it can continue operation

Ah, ok, everything is peachy then. So this must have happened many times before, right? I probably wasn't paying much attention during those shutdowns, but as you say, there were already natural sources just under the acceptable levels, so a dip over the line now and then can't be all that worrisome.

Tho I'm still curious where it would come from. It is natural, of course, but it is natural from the decay of Uranium, and the closest Uranium of any concentration that I knew about was the Bancroft mines. Stands to reason this being Great Canadian Shield ground granite that we're standing on, there'd be at least some of it laced with heavy metals.

garym: ict evangelist - musician - whatever

Town Publishes Reports

Submitted by Dodge on July 31, 2008 - 11:24am.

Yearly summaries are published on the town website for each water system. One can get some idea of the history of the system from these reports. By 2009 all of the surrounding small systems will be connected to the school wells. Most of the small wells will be decommissioned.

Why Thompson System

Submitted by mxyzptlk on July 31, 2008 - 4:31pm.

i looked for the documents mentioned by dodge. i was able to find the reports for 2005 and 2007. not able to locate 2006 report. in 2005 there were no reported incidents. in 2007 there was one incident that occurred, coincidentally, around the same time of year. the really nagging question is 'why is it that (appearantly) only the thompson system is tested for radium-226'?
kltpzyxm