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Re: Radionuclides in Groundwater




I would recommend that anyone who uses a private water supply have that
water tested using the appropriate protocols as those used for public water
supplies. As part of our nuclear power plant monitoring we monitor some
private wells for radioactivity only. The water is usually not tested
further as it would be if it was a public drinking water supply.

We recognized that if we were truly concerned with the health of the people
utilizing those wells, we should have it tested occasionally for
non-radiological contaminants. We went to the homeowners involved and found
out that only one family was using their well as a drinking water source.
We had it tested for non-radiological contaminants and found out that the
water was very high in fecal coliform-these people were essentially
drinking their own sewage. I have tested some wells where it was
immediately obvious due to the odor or color that there was a problem, but
in this case the water color and odor was nondescript. Upon closer
inspection it was determined that their lateral line and well were too
close together, and that this condition had persisted for many years.

The point is that there are many potential contaminants in a private water
supply that can be harmful to the health of those using it and the cost to
the owners in having the water tested is well worth it. As it stands now,
the private well user is on their own and probably always will be as far as
regulations are concerned. I imagine that the job of educating the private
well user will fall at the local level, probably with the county involved.

DJWhitfill

Opinions expressed are mine and do not reflect official policies or
positions of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.



                                                                                                
                    TMARKS5333@aol.com                                                          
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                    radsafe@romulus.eh        <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>                    
                    s.uiuc.edu                cc:                                               
                                              Subject:     Re: Radionuclides in Groundwater     
                                                                                                
                    01/30/01 07:12 PM                                                           
                    Please respond to                                                           
                    radsafe                                                                     
                                                                                                
                                                                                                




Many of you may recall last September the same issue of a home in
Connecticut
having the same levels as those seen here.

This is my house, and the life of my five children that ARE effected.

If you want to talk about the safety of uranium, natural or otherwise, and
the governments responsibility to the health of the general populus ... you
can talk until you're blue in the face.  My family drank this water for 5
years and are seeing health effects. We make routine trips into the city
for
kidney analysis. My kids teeth abscess and the bone disintegrates; thus
resulting in 3 children having 9 teeth pulled! All the kids have low bone
mass, etc.

I can't believe that any parents out there would want to knowingly subject
themselves or their children to what we are going through. Not to mention
what the future may hold. Nobody really knows how kids metabolize uranium
--
two of mine have had it since birth, one inutero. How can any tell me that
this is safe for them?!? Maybe this would explain bone mass 4-5 deviations
below normal and teeth that are as soft as chalk....and for those nay
sayers
who will blame it on too much or too little fluoride, try again.

As for those who claim the water with high uranium/radium usually contains
so
many other minerals that the water color and taste would be prohibitive to
wanting to drink the water, I would gladly send you a sample of my water
and
you can look at it and taste it. I dare you to drink it on a daily basis
and
give it to your kids.

If it only took the government warning me that this may be here (according
the maps), or better yet, the mandatory testing for it, I wouldn't be where
I
am today -- fearing for the future of my children. Who can put a price on
life???????

T. Marks
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