Sodium

What is Sodium?
Sodium is an element that is naturally present in seawater and groundwater and therefore naturally occurs in nearly all water supplies. It is an essential component of the diet and is most commonly found in table salt. Sodium salts are used in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Sodium levels in most of public water supplies are typically less than 200mg/liter but levels greater than 200 mg/liter have been detected and these occurrences were typically due to sea water influence on the source. In the Drinking Water Regulations, it is defined as an Indicator parameter.
What is an exceedance of Sodium?
The designated limit for Sodium in the EU drinking water directive is 200mg/l. Therefore, any result above this level is an exceedance for Sodium.
How can a Sodium exceedance occur?
Where source values are normally low, excessive sodium might indicate pollution of the source by wastewater treatment systems. Other water sources on occasion have been impacted by Sodium where runoff from roads treated with salt has occurred.