title: Determination of natural radioactivity in irrigation water of drilled wells in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
abstract: The levels of natural radiation in bedrock groundwater extracted from drilled wells in selected farms in the northwestern part of Saudi Arabia were addressed. The investigated waters form a source of irrigation for vegetables, agricultural crops, wheat, and alfalfa to feed livestock consumed by the general public. Information about water radioactivity in this area is not available yet. Therefore, this study strives to contribute to the quality assessment of the groundwater of these wells that are drilled into the non-renewable Saq sandstone aquifer. Hence, gross alpha and beta activities as well as the concentrations of (224)Ra, (226)Ra, (228)Ra, (234)U, (238)U, and U(total) were measured, compared to national and international limits and contrasted with data quoted from the literature. Correlations between the activities of the analyzed radionuclides were discussed. The concentrations of gross alpha and beta activities as well as (228)Ra were identified by liquid scintillation counting whereas alpha spectrometry was used to determine (224)Ra, (226)Ra, (234)U and (238)U after separation from the matrix by extraction chromatography. The mean activity concentrations of gross α and β were 3.15 ± 0.26 Bq L(-1) and 5.39 ± 0.44 Bq L(-1), respectively. Radium isotopes ((228)Ra and (226)Ra) showed mean concentrations of 3.16 ± 0.17 Bq L(-1) and 1.12 ± 0.07 Bq L(-1), respectively, whereas lower levels of uranium isotopes ((234)U and (238)U) were obtained.
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Science Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alkhomashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, College of Science, Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 11623, Saudi Arabia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Al-Balqa Applied University, Salt 19117, Jordan. Electronic address: hamarnehibrahim@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ibrahim F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Al-Hamarneh
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Science Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia; National Centre for Nuclear Technology (NCNT), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Fahad I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Almasoud
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D001417:Background Radiation; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011851:Radioactivity; D011883:Radium / Q000032:analysis*; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis*; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D060986:Water Wells
chemical_list: D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium; D011883:Radium
keywords: Gross α and β activity concentration; Irrigation groundwater; Ra and U concentrations; Saudi Arabia