Radionuclides (uranium, thorium, radium, radon gas etc.) are found naturally in air, water, soil and rock. Everyday, we ingest and inhale these radionuclides through the air we breathe and through food and water we take. Out of the internal exposure via ingestion of radionuclides, water contributes the major portion. The natural radioactivity of water is due to the activity transfer from bed rock and soils. In our surveys carried out in the past few years, we have observed high concentrations of uranium and total dissolved solids (TDS) in drinking waters of some southern parts of Punjab State exceeding the safe limits recommended by national and international agencies. The main drinking water source is the underground water procured from different depths. Due to the highly saline taste, disorders in their digestive systems and other ailments, people are installing reverse osmosis (RO) systems in their houses. Some RO systems have been installed on commercial basis. The state government is also in the process of installing community RO systems at the village level. As high values of uranium are also undesired and may pose health hazards due to radioactivity and toxicity of uranium, we have conducted a survey in the field to study the performance of various RO systems for removal of uranium and TDS. Water samples from about forty RO systems from Faridkot, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar districts of Punjab State were collected and analyzed. Our results show that some RO systems are able to remove more than 99% of uranium in the underground waters used for drinking purposes. TDS values are also reduced considerably to the desired levels. So RO systems can be used to avoid the risk of unduly health problems posed by high concentrations of uranium and TDS in drinking water.
