Accumulation of Radionuclides in Water Works Filter Bed Material

Abstract

THE presence of manganese in certain water supplies is an inconvenience which can lead to the formation of deposits and, in extreme cases, to blockage of the mains. Several water undertakings introduce a special precipitation and sand filtration process to remove it. The sand of the filter beds at such undertakings becomes coated with a deposit of manganese dioxide. Manganese-54 has been present in rain water in significant concentrations since the Soviet nuclear test series of 1961 (ref. 1) and samples of used filter bed material have been examined for their radiomanganese content. This particular material resulted from the filtration of a colourless moorland water at high pH and the process effectively removes the 0.25 p.p.m. of manganese present.