Comparative study of two different water sources in the aspect of radiological exposure to the local population of Bageshwar, India

In the present study, 80 samples of water from hand pumps and 63 samples of tap water were collected from the Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand, state of India. The radon activity concentration is varied from 1 to 21 Bq/L with a mean value of 7 ± 4 Bq/L in tap water samples while for handpump water samples radon activity concentration is varied from 3 to 42 Bq/L with a mean value of 20 ± 9 Bq/L. The average radon level in drinking water in the study region was higher than the radon level in water of Haridwar and Karanprayag districts of Uttarakhand and lower than the radon level in the drinking water of Dehradun, New Tehri, Pauri Garhwal and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand. The mathematical estimation of radiological dose due to inhalation and ingestion of radon in water was calculated and discussed in detail in this study. Age dependent effective dose is estimated to compare the radiological effect on different age-groups. The trend of the mean values of radon ingestion dose in distinct age-groups is likely to be as infants > adults > children.