Transient nature of riverbank filtered drinking water supply systems - a new challenge of natural radioactivity assessment

In Hungary the drinking water supply is mainly based on groundwater from aquifers characterized by different lithology. Riverbank filtered systems represent 40 % of drinking water supply. According to the EURATOM drinking water directive, there are recent regulations in Hungary regarding the natural radioactivity of drinking waters. Based on this, if gross alpha or gross beta radiation exceeds the limit, nuclide-specific measurements are required to be performed by the relevant waterworks. Since the mobility of uranium and radium is strongly influenced by the geochemical conditions, knowledge on the geochemical parameters of water is required. Therefore hydrogeology has a crucial role in revealing the origin of elevated activity concentrations. This research presents a case study in Hungary where the drinking water supply is provided by bank filtered and karst wells. The main aim of this study is to determine which radionuclides may cause the elevated radioactivity and explain their occurrence using hydrogeological approach, considering also the temporal variation of groundwater/surface water ratio. In most of the wells of the research area the gross alpha values are above the screening level, 0.1 Bq L^-1. The study revealed the correlation between the river water level fluctuation and the uranium content of the wells. Among the investigated radionuclides, the uranium activity concentrations responded the most to the water level changes of the river and showed systematically higher values during low water conditions. In addition the karst wells showed low activity concentrations. This suggests, that uranium is transported by the groundwater component, and possibly sourced from the fluviatile sediments. The results of this study highlighted the transient nature of river bank filtered systems, which should be taken into account in the monitoring and water supply strategy. Nevertheless, the study emphasizes the importance of considering the dynamics of groundwater and associated geochemical environment in addition to geological factors, when investigating the radioactivity of groundwater or other potential contaminants.

This study was supported by the ÚNKP-19-3 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities. This study is part of a project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 810980.