Radioactive tracer study of sewage field in Santa Monica bay

Abstract

In a unique experiment just completed in Santa Monica Bay, CA, USA, radioactive isotopes were successfully used to trace dispersion of sewage effluent in ocean waters. The results help to establish proper design procedures to insure against beach pollution in a current expansion of the Los Angeles sewage system. To effect the experiment twenty curies of scandium-46 were mixed with sewage effluent and discharged into the sea. Scientists aboard a laboratory ship then took radioactive measurements over a wide area to determine dilution rate and direction of diffusion.