Re: Dating of Water via Tritium Determination

[Holloway3@aol.com]

Dating of water via tritium determination is normally done by enrichment of
tritium in the sample, that is by the use of electrolysis.  There are only a
few laboratories in the country that can do this.  These include the EPA
laboratory in Las Vegas, Lawrence Livermore, the Desert Research Institute in
Nevada and a few more.  It is not a precise method but can be used mainly to
determine if water has mixed with surface water or was derived from surface
water in the last few decades.  While at EPA a few years ago, I was curious
about the tritium content of well-known mineral waters such as Evian and
Perrier, and found that both had detectable tritium, meaning that the water
had been to the surface in recent times. 

                                                             Robert Holloway
                                                             Nevada Technical
Associates, Inc. 





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