Assessment of Radioactivity Concentration from Borehole and Well Water in Konshisha, Benue- Nigeria

In this study, radioactivity concentration of water samples collected from boreholes and wells in Konshisha, Benue State, Nigeria was measured and an average annual effective dose derived from drinking water ingestion was calculated. Ten (10) samples were collected for the purpose of this analysis. The samples were studied for gross alpha and beta radioactivity using a low background proportional counter (MPC-2000DP). The arithmetic mean for alpha activity was found to be 0.0298Bq/l and 0.1010Bq/l for borehole and well water samples, and that of beta activity was 0.0335Bq/l and 0.1941Bq/l for borehole and well water samples respectively. Results from this research showed that the gross alpha and beta activities measured from the water samples were below the WHO recommended values (0.5Bq/l for gross alpha and 1.0Bq/l for gross beta) and the annual effective dose derived from drinking water ingestion was at a safe level.