CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF RIVERS AND LAKES 



G45 



RADIUM 



Radium has attracted attention because of its radio- 

 activity and there is much information about the 

 concentration of this element in natural waters. Data 

 for lakes and rivers are summarized in table 86. Most 

 of this information is brought together and discussed by 

 Lowder and Solon (1956). 



There is obviously considerable variation in the 

 radium content of rivers. From the data presented in 

 the table it appears that there was a tenfold discrepancy 

 between the results of Lynch (in Lowder and Solon, 

 1956) and those of Hursh (1954, 1957), the two principal 

 analysts involved, but actually Hursh gives a much 

 larger body of data than those presented, which were 

 selected because the waters had not been treated by 

 flocculation, settling, and filtration before analysis. 

 Among the data for treated waters gathered by Hursh 

 are many radium concentrations as high as those of 

 Lynch. For the Mississippi River, the only water 

 which both have studied, Hursh obtained a higher value 

 than Lynch, even after filtration. 



Because there is a spread of almost three orders of 

 magnitude in the analytical results, it is not possible 

 to arrive at a reliable global estimate by taking the 

 mean of such a small number of analyses, but for what 

 it is worth the mean is 3.9 Xl0~ 10 ppm. This is only a 

 little higher than the mean of all the available analyses 

 of the Mississippi, including those made after treat- 

 ment which might be expected to lower the radium 

 content, and probably is of the correct order of mag- 

 nitude. It is worth noting, however, that most people 

 who have studied the matter believe the radium con- 

 tent of rivers to be one complete order of magnitude 

 lower (Holland and Kulp, 1954, 0.35 X10- 10 ; Koczy, 



1954, 0.7 XlO" 10 ; Kohman and Saito, 1954, North 

 America only, 0.3 XlO -10 ). The present estimate would 

 indicate a Ca/Ra ratio for river water of 5 XlO 10 ; the 

 earlier estimates, made on less nearly complete data, 

 would indicate a ratio of about 5 XlO 11 . 



SELENIUM 



Selenium seems to have been studied only in the 

 waters of areas where it is known to be particularly 

 plentiful. Thus, in South Dakota, in an area where 

 the element is locally abundant enough to be poison- 

 ous, Searight and his co-workers (Searight and Moxon, 

 1945; Searight and others, 1946) found 21.4 and 85.5 

 ppb selenium in 2 ponds, at least one of which was 

 above local ground-water level. The Colorado River 

 system, in the places where it drains seleniferous soils, 

 has contents of the element as high as 2,680 ppb 

 (Williams and Byers, 1935; Byers and others, 1938). 

 From this kind of information, it is hardly possible to 

 arrive at any firm conclusions about the selenium 

 content of lakes and rivers. 



ARSENIC, ANTIMONY, AND BISMUTH 



Arsenic has been determined in a number of lake and 

 river waters, and some of the data are presented in table 

 87. The very high figures for New Zealand are from a 

 limited area of hydrothermal activity where the element 

 is unusually abundant, and are not to be taken as 

 representative of the hydrosphere generally. It is 

 possibile that the Saale figures have been increased by 

 industrial pollution and the content of the waters in 

 Portugal, where pollution is less likely, is much lower. 

 Only one water of the six described in table 86 contained 



Table 87. — Arsenic content of lake and river waters 



Locality 



Southern Cordoba, Argentina 



Sea of Azov 



Caspian Sea 



Waiotapu River. New Zealand — 

 Surface seepage water, Waiotapu 

 Valley. 



Pools, Waiotapu Valley 



Rio Zezere, Portugal 



Germany 



Saale at Goschwitz, Germany 

 mean of 12 monthly samples: 



Dissolved 



In suspension 



Saale at various places, range: 



Dissolved 



In suspension 



Biwa-Ko, Japan 



516 California waters with less 

 than 2,000 ppm total dissolved 

 solids: 

 Range 



Mean 



20 California waters with more 

 than 2,000 ppm total dissolved 

 solids: 



Range 



Mean 



Arsenic 

 (ppb) 



40-1, 600 



1-15 



3-12 



2, 400-4, 900 



g 15, 000 



£530 



1 



2-3 



6.9 



2.4 



3. 5-16. 1 



.3-6 



.66-3.26 



0-100 

 .4 



0-2,000 

 225 



Author 



Paraje (1950). 

 Fedosov (1940). 



Do. 

 Grimmett and Mcintosh (1939). 



Do. 



Do. 

 See table 29. 



von Bulov and Otto (1931), 

 quoted in Hutchinson (1957). 



Heide and Moenke (1956). 

 Do. 



Do. 

 Do. 



Sugawara, Naito, and Yamada 

 (1956). 



California Dept. 

 sources (1957). 

 Do. 



Do. 

 Do. 



Water Re- 



