Greek authorities have found high levels of radioactive uranium in the tab water of the village Mikrokomi in Volvi Municipality, northern Greece. They have warned the 50 residents of the village against the consumption of tab water for drinking and cooking and in favor of bottled water. The warning has been issued “until further notice.”
The uranium was found in a well during the annual water quality assessment that has been conducted since 2017.
“We are inspecting the rest of the wells in the area and are in constant contact with public health authorities,” Volvi Mayor Diamantis Liamas told media on Friday.
“If we do not find a solution, we will transport water to Mikrokomi through a pipeline from the neighboring village,” he added..
Radioactive substances were not found in 2017, when water analysis were conducted following an EU directive. Uranium was found in the community of Nymphopetra in 2018, though. The problem was solved through the transport of water with a pipeline from another village.
While inspections continue also in other wells of the area, Mayor Liamas said that the radioactive substance in the area is a “natural phenomenon.”
“The Hellenic Atomic Energy institution Company and the competent department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki informed us that the area of Volvi is earthquake-prone and it is possible that an earthquake has caused a rupture with the effect that the water comes in contact with hard rocks containing the substance,” the mayor told media.
“This is the cause, it’s a natural phenomenon,” Liamas stressed.
President of Volvi Water Management Company, Christos Gkoliadakis, told daily ethnos that the high levels of radioactive substance found in the area are due to the presence of magnetite substrate. “The granite in the area emits radiation, causing serious problems to the quality of water,” he underlined.
Controls would be repeated in the area at a frequency set by the Regional Public Health Directorate to determine when the water would be purified from the radioactive uranium, the Mayor of Volvi added.
