Radiological characteristic of surface water sources

Bulgaria is a small country located in South-Eastern Europe. It is not of the richest countries if we talk about water supplies. So we use different water sources to provide our needs. Because of that there is a strict control on these sources. The water sources can be lakes, rivers, dam lakes and so on. The systematic control on these water sources in Bulgaria is made by a net of control stations. The radiological control includes determination of some parameters as Total (Gross) beta activity, concentration of Uranium 238 and Radium 226. In the last decades in Bulgaria there was realized a strict systematic control on these radiological parameters. There were analyzed a lot of water samples from 9 stations on the Danube river, and about 54 stations located on 9 rivers, 2 lakes and 1 dam lake. Total Beta activity is measured in Bq/litre, and the limit concentration is 750 mBq/l. The estimated value for some of the investigated water sources vary from 0.062 to 0.123 Bq/l. Limit concentrations for Uranium 238 and Radium 226 are 0.06 mg/l and 0.15 Bq/l. Measured parameters of these radiological parameters at these water sources are vastly below the limit concentrations. So there is no reason for doubt at the water quality. Despite of these positive results the systematic control should continue, to prevent any potential risk for the environment and human health