Radium is one cancer-causing element DeKalb might not need to worry about.

Radium has been present in Illinois well water since the early 1900s when the wells were dug in the deep sandstone aquifiers, or underground water source.

adium present in the soil where wells are dug dissolves in the water, releasing radioactivity which might cause cancer. The radium remains in a person’s bones and damages surrounding tissue, according to the American Cancer Society.

In some Illinois communities, the amount of radium in drinking water meets or exceeds the maximum allowance of 5 picocuries or about one trillionth of a gram, the cancer society stated.

“A dose of 5 picocuries per liter may result in the development of bone cancer in an extrememly small portion of the population,” stated a press release from the cancer society.

In 1968, one DeKalb well had 4.9 picocuries and another had 3.9 picocuries, said Richard Toohey, a health physics manager from the Environmental Safety and Health Department of Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ill.

Water tests were done in 1988 and compared with the data from 1968 showing a minimal amount of change, Toohey said. He said he would be surprised if any amount of radium increased 10 to 20 percent.

In the neighboring town of Genoa, Dan Gilbert, Genoa Illinois Public Works director, said radium 226 and 228 are present in their wells. Added together, the radium has exceeded the limit of 5 picocuries to 5.725 picocuries.

The cancer society stated there has been no increase in bone, or any other, cancer in towns where radium meets or exceeds the maximum dose.

Gilbert said water softening, or breaking down hard chemicals in water, will eliminate most of the radium in the water but “it would be very expensive”.

Deep aquifers, drift wells and surface waters are three basic water sources from where Illinois residents receive their water, an Illinois Evironmental Protection Agency pamphlet stated.

Scott Palmer, chief of staff for DeKalb-area State Congressman Dennis Hastert, R-Ottawa, said most radium is found in deep water wells and less in shallow wells.

However, DeKalb Water Works officials said DeKalb’s water comes from deep aquifers and has no dangerous levels of radium.

Palmer said many towns are mixing deep and shallow well water to dilute and lessen the radium count in the water. “That is one way to help the problem,” he said.

Water consumers are always aware of their water condition because public notices must be issued to communities which fail to meet water quality standards, the IEPA pamphlet stated.

Toohey said one person out of a billion drinking two liters of infected water a day might develop cancer.

“Water utilities are put on restricted status” when radium exceeds its limits, he said.

Water consumers are usually notified on their water bill when radium is present in their water, Toohey said.

One way to cleanse the water of radium is by softening, he said, adding it is expensive. The softening cost is payed by issuing a bond to raise money and then added onto the water bill, he said.

Other ways to clean the water are disinfecting water by adding chlorine, adding flourine or filtering the water, the pamphlet stated.