Decontamination of radioactive materials using a household water purifier

Abstract

  A home water purifier was used to remove radioactive iodine and cesium from rainwater contaminated with the radioactive materials released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident following the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. To prevent internal radiation exposure, the rainwater was satisfactorily decontaminated by a simple method using the pitcher type water purifier, which is widely available to the general public. However, the results indicate that the ability for purification by the home water purifier will be reduced significantly if the water is not filtered by some method before the water purifier is used, especially in the case of natural water containing suspension matter.