Gross Alpha Emitters
Overview
Gross alpha is a measure of natural radioactivity in water from eroded rock, mostly radium and uranium. It is a screening measure for radioactive contamination.
In Florida, Gross Alpha Emitters was found in 431 community water systems serving about 2,438,870 people. 8 of those readings were above the federal legal limit, together serving 6,037 people. It was measured by 1,559 systems in all, so it was detected in 28% of the systems that tested for it.
The highest reading relative to the limit was at Oak Park Mobile Home Village in Lee County, at 782% of it.
Where it comes from: Erosion of natural deposits.
The standards
Enforceable. A utility must stay at or under this.
Health-based, not enforceable. Often lower than the limit, sometimes zero.
Nobody has published a health goal for this substance, official or otherwise.
Health effects the EPA associates with it: May increase the risk of cancer.
The health goal is set on health alone. The legal limit is set as close to it as is technically and economically feasible, so treatment cost and available technology are written into the number a utility is measured against. A system at or under the limit is meeting the standard it is required to meet. Both numbers are shown so the distance between them is visible.
What removes it
Gross alpha measures radioactivity rather than one substance, so the right treatment depends on what is producing it, usually radium or uranium. Softening handles radium, anion exchange handles uranium, and reverse osmosis handles both. Identify which before buying equipment.
Treatment guidance describes the methods generally used for this contaminant. What your own tap actually carries depends on your plumbing and your service line as much as on the utility, which is what a test at the house tells you and an annual report cannot.
Where in Florida
Highest reported levels
Showing the 25 highest of 431 systems that reported Gross Alpha Emitters.
Data Sources
These figures describe water as delivered by each utility, not what your home’s plumbing adds after it arrives. Informational; not a substitute for testing your own tap.