Research and analysis

Radiological incidents: contamination of drinking water

These reports (HPA-RPD-040 and HPA-RPD-041) concern incidents involving radionuclides leading to contamination of the drinking water supply.

• From: Public Health England
• Published: 1 July 2008

Documents

HPA-RPD-040: handbook for assessing the impact of a radiological incident on levels of radioactivity in drinking water and risks to operatives at water treatment works

Ref: ISBN 978-0-85951-620-4

PDF, 527 KB, 79 pages

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HPA-RPD-041: handbook for assessing the impact of a radiological incident on levels of radioactivity in drinking water and risks to operatives at water treatment works: supporting scientific report

Ref: ISBN 978-0-85951-621-1

PDF, 384 KB, 97 pages

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Details

Incidents or accidents involving radionuclides could lead to contamination of the drinking water supply. If this occurred near an open source of supply, then the water would probably pass through an established treatment works prior to being supplied to the consumer. Consequently, any such incident could lead to exposure to radiation for both the consumer of drinking water and the operatives that work in any affected water treatment works.

HPA-RPD-040 provides information and guidance for the drinking water industry so that the radiological impact on operatives at treatment works can be quantified and estimates of the likely effectiveness of drinking water treatment in removing radionuclides from water can be made.

HPA-RPD-041 is a supporting scientific report providing a detailed description of how parameter values have been determined for use in estimating the effectiveness of drinking water treatment in removing radionuclides from water.

Published 1 July 2008