Radiation
The presence of radionuclides in drinking water is an issue addressed in the Safe Drinking Water Act, which established limits called maximum contaminant levels (MCL) for both gross alpha and gross beta radiation. The MCL for gross alpha is 15 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), while the acceptable level for gross beta is set at 50 pCi/L.

Southern Nevada's drinking water has never exceeded those limits.

Data from 2004 place the gross alpha levels at an average of 2.8 pCi/L at the Alfred Merritt Smith (AMS) Water Treatment Facility and 1.2 pCi/L at the River Mountains Water Treatment Facility.

Gross beta radiation averaged 4.0 pCi/L at the AMS facility and 3.3 pCi/L at River Mountains.

To place the health implications of radionuclides on the human body in perspective, drinking water accounts for less than 1 percent of the radiation to which the average person is exposed.

For more information about radiation in drinking water, see the Environmental Protection Agency's information about radionuclides.