By Hani Hazaimeh
AMMAN - 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 a recent study alleging there is a high concentration of natural radioactive particles in underground water.
"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 [IAEA] to ensure water safety,” Water and Irrigation Minister Raed Abu Saud said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times Thursday.
The statement came in response to a study, which 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. The study was carried out by a team of researchers from Duke University in the United States.
The team was headed by Israeli-born Avner Vengosh. The Jordan Times tried to contact Vengosh over the phone and via his email but he was not available for comment.
Meanwhile, Abu Saud underscored that the IAEA accredits the ministry's lab as a regional centre for environmental and nuclear pollution tests, “which reflects the credibility of our laboratories”.
"They are also accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service since 2005," the minister said, stressing that citizens have nothing to worry about with regard to the hygiene of drinking water.
Meanwhile, Jordan Water Authority (JWA) Assistant Secretary General Zakariya Tarawneh on Thursday said that results of any assessment of radiation in water sources needs 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.
Moreover, the JWA laboratories compare the test results with international specifications by sending these results to different specialised laboratories in other countries, Tarawneh added.
An official source, who spoke to The Jordan Times on condition of anonymity, questioned the timing of the study which comes weeks before the financial closure of the multimillion-dollar Disi Water Conveyance Project.
"It is obvious that the study was based on hidden political goals rather than scientific reasons," the official said.
No government official was available to answer questions on how the researchers gathered samples from desert areas and whether they coordinated their research with any local agency or institution.
Meanwhile, Disi Water Conveyance Project Director Othman Kurdi said the Disi water complies with tap water standards, adding that the project, which the government is keen to implement, corresponds to the urgent need for drinking water in the Kingdom due to the scarcity of water resources, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
