Working Report, 11/2006 – Radioactive isotopes in Danish drinking water

Radioactive isotopes in Danish drinking water

9 Conclusions

The results of this investigation demonstrate that Denmark fulfils the obligation to meet the requirements in the Drinking Water Directive 98/83/EC for radioactivity in drinking water used in Denmark. The investigation has included samples from Danish water works that produce more than 40% of the drinking water delivered to consumers.

The results show low concentrations of natural radioactivity in Danish drinking water and even the highest measured concentrations meet the required limit for the total indicative dose.

Groundwater used for drinking water was collected from very different types of geological structures including bed rock and areas with potentially elevated levels of natural radioactivity. Also in these cases the concentrations of radioactivity were sufficiently low to meet the requirements in the Drinking Water Directive.

In view of these results it seems probable that the risk of finding drinking water in Denmark with unacceptable concentrations of radioactivity is very small. Therefore there is no need for further radiological investigations of the Danish water supply based on natural groundwaters.