Water Resource Protection

Although most people aren't aware of it, the ground water tapped into by residential and public drinking water systems may contain radionuclides. These are naturally occurring radioactive contaminants that are present in greater concentrations in certain regions of the country, including northern New England. If ingested, radionuclides can result in an increased risk of cancer. Treatment processes exist that take radionuclides out of water, but once removed, where are they disposed? Usually, radionuclides end up where the rest of a system's wastewater ends up-in septic tanks, leach fields, or sewers.

The issue of just how safe it is to dispose of radionuclides with regular wastewater hasn't gotten a lot of attention over the years, primarily due to a lack of data and knowledge. But that's about to change.

A project started in fiscal 2002 with funds from EPA and the University of New Hampshire (UNH), will investigate what happens to radionuclides discharged by private homeowner systems as well as larger ground water systems run by towns and small communities. When radionuclides are taken out of groundwater by treatment processes, they typically are disposed of with the rest of a system's wastewater, meaning they end up in septic tanks, leach fields, or sewers. Researchers at UNH will examine this process and whether radionuclides concentrate in septic solids or are discharged to subsurface soils and groundwater. They will do this by intensively studying three sites in New England.

Rebecca Weidman, NEIWPCC's Director of Water Resource Protection, is coordinating efforts by the states to locate appropriate sites for the project and to develop alternative disposal policies. Monitoring and data collection is expected to begin by mid-2005 with a final report to be completed by early 2006.