Many people aren’t aware of what’s in the water they are drinking. This begs the question, should we be concerned about the radiation in our water? Radioactive materials, also called radio-nuclides are both naturally occurring and human made. Radio-nuclides from naturally occurring sources can get into ground water and surface waters. When radio-nuclides decay, they create radiation.
Radiation surrounds us all and it is inevitable for us to avoid it. Most of the radiation we come in contact with each year is from natural sources like the sun and soil, or it can come from human made sources such as medical tests, treatments or construction. While doses of this radiation are random, we should still be concerned of how much radiation our bodies absorb. A constant flow of radiation takes place in our own tap water. If this water is left unchecked, we could suffer from health problems. But luckily the water that we drink goes through a number of tests before it hits our sink. In Macedonia, tap water gets thoroughly tested at the institute of health, at the department for radiation protection. The water goes through a series of funnels which are connected to a computer which detects the radon particles. Jovan Januseski, a scientist who works at the department says that low levels of radon particles in your water can even be good for you. So what can we learn from this? We should start throwing away those plastic and glass bottles and start drinking the tap water that is always available for us. It doesn’t only benefit us, but it also benefits our planet as well.
In conclusion, we shouldn’t be scared of the radiation in our water. We shouldn’t waste plastic and glass just because we don’t know the benefits of tap water. So grab a glass and pour some tap water, because our planet is dying, one bottle at a time.

Text written by SUGS Georgi Dimitrov Skopje