By Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN - A researcher involved in a recent controversial scientific study claiming that parts of the country’s underground water contain high concentration of natural radioactive particles said Sunday the survey is “purely scientific and had no political agenda”.

However, President of Balqa Applied University Omar Rimawi, who was among the team that conducted the study, played down the seriousness of the results, which were reported on Wednesday by Reuters, suggesting that thousands of people in the central region were drinking contaminated water.

The samples of water tested were obtained from underground wells which are used for agricultural purposes, with no danger to crops, and which are not meant for drinking, Rimawi told The Jordan Times in a telephone interview.

The USAID-funded study, which started in 2005 and is still ongoing, claimed that underground wells in the Disi aquifer in the south of the Kingdom have 20 times more radiation than is considered safe for drinking.

It was carried out by a team of researchers from Duke University in the United States headed by Israeli-born Avner Vengosh.

Officials quoted in news reports questioned the credibility and the timing of the study, whose findings were announced weeks before the financial closure of the multimillion-dollar Disi Water Conveyance Project, designed to solve Jordan’s drinking water shortage.

But the researcher insisted that it was carried out in the spirit of pure science with no hidden agenda whatsoever. He also stressed that the findings are accurate.

“The study indicated that water sources in the south have variant levels of radioactive particles, including radon gas. Some wells showed low levels [of radiation] while others were proved to have high levels of these particles,” Rimawi added.

Radon is a colourless, odourless, naturally occurring, radioactive noble gas that is formed from the decay of radium. It is one of the heaviest substances that remain in gas form under normal conditions and can be found in some spring waters and hot springs, according to web sources.

The researcher pointed out that radon gas liberates from the water when it is pumped out and exposed to open air. “Consequently, it doesn’t contaminate crops irrigated with the water,” Rimawi said.

Countries around the world have water with high levels of radiant particles, which are natural substances more common in sandstone, Rimawi said.

He also underscored that the underground water is also safe from uranium, as the substance doesn’t dissolve in water.

Uranium is believed to be present in several parts of the Kingdom, with the central region expected to be home to a majority of the Kingdom’s estimated 130,000 tonnes of uranium, according to the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission.

Rimawi noted that the high levels of radioactive substances in the underground water is treatable.

Meanwhile, Deputy Hazem Al Nasser, a member of the Lower House Agriculture and Water Committee and a former water and irrigation minister, said water pumped to consumers is properly tested and in accordance with international standards.

“Every country has water with radiation rates... Jordan has never pumped drinking water to people unless it is treated in line with national standards,” Nasser told The Jordan Times yesterday.

He noted that the Lower House will not carry out an investigation into the findings of the study.

The government on Thursday said that tap water provided to citizens is safe as authorities apply “the highest relevant international standards”, challenging the results of Duke University’s study.

“The Kingdom’s drinking water is tested at the central laboratories of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in cooperation with the Health Ministry and the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure water safety,” Water and Irrigation Minister Raed Abu Saud said in a statement.

Jordan Water Authority Assistant Secretary General Zakariya Tarawneh said in response to the report that results of any assessment of radiation in water sources need at least two years to come out according to international standards, casting doubts on the authenticity of the findings arrived at by Vengosh and his team.

According to the national specifications, the permitted annual exposure to radioactive elements must not exceed 0.5 millisievert/year (mSv/yr), Tarawneh said, reiterating that water supplied to southern areas are within permissible limit, as the results indicated that radiation does not exceed 0.3mSv/yr.