Amritsar: Reverse osmosis (RO) system removes over 90 per cent of uranium from ground water, a study has claimed.
In many cases uranium's removal rate goes up to 99 per cent, said the study conducted by researchers at Guru Nanak Dev University.
The study found that RO system in water purifiers installed in villages of Bathinda and Mansa districts had been successful in removing uranium content from water by more than 90 per cent.
A similar study was carried out in Amritsar city and it had yielded the same results.
The research was conducted by Associate Professor of Department of Physics Nisha Sharma, Barjinder Kaur and Rajbans Kaur.
However, it was found that essential minerals like calcium, magnesium and potassium are also removed by larger amounts as RO system removes all the dissolved salts (TDS) irrespectively.
High traces of uranium have been found in drinking water in Punjab and adjoining areas.
The water samples taken from several districts in Punjab and tested by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) have shown presence of uranium between 6 to 600 parts per billion (ppb), while the permissible limit is 60 ppb.
Bathinda and Moga districts of Punjab are the most affected, where the concentration of uranium is highest.
Over 35 per cent of the water samples collected from Punjab has shown highest concentration of uranium than the permissible limit.
PTI
First Published: Friday, July 27, 2012, 21:08