Radium isotopes in the Polish Outer Carpathian mineral waters of various chemical composition

The paper presents the activity concentrations of radium isotopes (226Ra, 228Ra) and chemical compositions of above 70 mineral water samples collected from several dozens of springs and boreholes localized in the Polish Outer Carpathians. The activity concentrations of both radium isotopes clearly increase with the increase of water TDS, but decrease when the SO42− content increases. These concentrations vary in the broad interval from a few to near 1000 mBq/L. The coefficient of the linear correlation between concentrations of these isotopes amounts to 0.85, and the activity ratio 226Ra/228Ra is >1 for chloride-sodium waters, being ≈1 for hydrogen-carbonate and <1 for the sulfate ones.

► Activity concentration of Ra-226 and Ra-228 and chemical composition of mineral water.
► Samples from several tens of springs and boreholes in Polish Outer Carpathians.
► Ra activity enlarge with increase of TDS, Na content and with decrease of SO4 content.
► Linear correlation coefficient between activities of Ra isotopes amounts to 0.85.
► Activity ratio Ra-226/Ra-228 is >1 for Cl–Na waters, ca 1 for HCO3, <1 for SO4 ones.