How To Remove Radon From Drinking Water?

How To Remove Radon From Drinking Water

Radon is an element that is dissolved and can sometimes be found in water wells. You cannot smell, see, or taste radon. However, you can drink it, especially when your main water source is the water well.       

Having radon in water is one of the common problems in modern homes. This element can bring health problems in the long run.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA), radon is one of the second leading causes of respiratory problems such as lung cancer in America nowadays. This is due to the soil and rocks at the foundation of the building.

However, recent studies show that its presence in the water can cause a significant change in one’s health.

Thus, this article aims to discuss what radon is and its sources. Also, this will tackle the health risks of radon in the water. Lastly, this will give examples of successfully removing or reducing radon in the water source. 

Understanding what is Radon

Radon is a gas, and it is radioactive. It was first discovered by a German chemist, Friedrich Ernst Dorn, in 1990.

Radon is produced through the decay of radium. It is colorless, radioactive, and odorless at room temperature. Since radon is a gas, one can easily inhale it, and the body's tissues are easily exposed to radiation. Indeed, it has a short half-life. However, it can decay into longer, solid, and radioactive elements, collecting dust particles and being inhaled.

Meanwhile, if it is in its solid state, it is yellow and becomes orange-red at a low temperature. Modern hospitals use small amounts of radon to aid in treating cancer.

Sources of Radon

Radon can be formed from radium decay found in rock, soil, and water.

If it is from the soil, it is coming from the crust of the Earth. It escapes through the crevices and cracks in the bedrock. It might also come from the foundation cracks or basements of your homes, which are poorly sealed.

Also, it might come from the radium dissolved in the groundwater and become the source of your water supply. The radon can be trapped in your home and become dangerous in the long run.

Radon found in water usually comes from water wells and is drilled in bedrock with radon gas. The wells can be either private water wells or wells with a public water supply system. However, radon does not usually occur in high concentrations in surface water.

The dissolved radon can escape into the air when you open your water, bathe, do your laundry, wash your dirty dishes, and clean your room.

According to studies, the estimated indoor air radon concentrations can increase by about one pCi per liter for every 10,000 pCi liters of water. For example, if the water well contains 2,000 pCi per liter of radon, you can expect to have 0.2 pCi per liter of radon to the indoor concentration. 

EPA says that indoor air should not have more than four pCi of radon per liter to prevent the potential for cancer.

The different states in America, plus the EPA, recommend that the standard drinking water must have only 300 to 10,000 pCi per liter of radon, but no standard currently exists.

A study conducted by Pennsylvania University found that 78% of their participants had a water source that exceeded the 300 pCi/L threshold. It has been found that over 52% exceeded the 1,000 pCi/L standards, and 10% exceeded the 5,000 pCi/L guidelines.   

Health Effects of Radon

You can inhale radon from the air and ingest it from the drinking water inside your home. Studies show that inhaling radon can increase one’s chance of having lung cancer greater than stomach cancer.

One can also likely increase his chance of getting lung cancer if he is exposed to radon, plus he is a chain smoker.

Detection and Testing

How To Remove Radon From Drinking Water

You can do several tests to determine if your home is at risk of radon exposure. One is through the inexpensive indoor air radon test, which can be bought at local home supply stores.

Meanwhile, radon sampling on water requires a special laboratory or sampling technique to measure radon before it escapes the sample water.

Radon Treatment 

Remember that if there is radon in the water, it also means that it enters the house through the soil or basement. As such, it will be the predominant water source in your house. Thus, treating your water source with radon can also eliminate radon problems in the air.

You must remove the radon in water before it becomes airborne. Devices termed ‘point-of-entry treatment' are installed on the devices to treat water resources before entering your home.

Granular Activated Carbon (GAC)

One method to remove radon in the water is through the granular activated carbon (GAC) unit. Nowadays, various units are available with different models, sizes, and types; however, they all follow the same technique for removing radon.

These GAC units have a fiberglass tank with granular activated carbon. This unit is made of a fine material that can trap and hold the filtered radon. Since the carbon has a fine particle size, it can quickly clog the sediments or other contaminants found in the water.

Meanwhile, GAC units include a special backwashing that can remove the sediment. However, this backwashing feature can reduce the effectiveness of the activated carbon to remove the radon.

Thus, eliminating the sediment filter or sediment source placed on the GAC tank is one of the best protection measures that you can take to prevent clogging.

Various estimates suggest that GAC should only be used on water supplies with a maximum radon concentration of less than 30,000 pCi/L.

After you are done with testing your water, you must check the GAC filters with high removal efficiency rates according to the level found in the water.

If you have finally decided to buy a unit, choose a filter size that matches your water condition and daily water use.

According to the standards set by the EPA, a three-cubic-foot unit can handle about 250 gallons of water each day and reduce the radon levels. The typical daily use of water inside the home can range from 50 to 100 gallons each person daily.

One of the major drawbacks of using the GAC filters in removing radon is that it can cause an eventual buildup of radioactivity within the GAC filter. Place the GAC unit in an isolated part of your house, like the basement, to prevent exposure.

Also, you must replace the carbon annually to reduce the dangers of accumulated radioactivity. Meanwhile, those GAC filters used for radon removal must be disposed of immediately. You can ask for help from professionals regarding properly disposing of the used GAC filters.

GAC treatment units are also installed inside the home to remove petroleum, chlorine, pesticides, odors, and various products in the water. In these examples, the GAC filter may accumulate radioactivity as it removes the radon in the water.

With this in mind, one should always test the water and see if it has radon. It should be considered a health hazard that the GAC filters must remove.

Home Aeration Units

In some of their reports, the USA EPA has stated that aeration is one of the best technologies available today to remove radon from the water.

The home aeration units can agitate the water physically and allow the dissolved radon gas to be vented and collected outside. 

The current innovation in home aeration units can remove about 99.9% of radon.

Other water quality issues must be considered when installing home aeration units. This includes the levels of manganese, iron, plus other contaminants. If your water is high on these contaminants, they may need to be pre-treated so they won’t clog the aeration unit. Also, you can use disinfection equipment since some aeration units will not allow bacterial contamination in the water system.

Various aeration treatment units are available nowadays. However, they all function on the principle that aerating or agitating the water will enable the radon gas to escape to the vent and be captured.

Each of the units has advantages and disadvantages. One of the common aeration styles is a spray aeration unit. The radon water is sprayed in the tank through a nozzle in this style. The increased surface area of the sprayed water droplets will cause the radon to come out of the water as a gas, while the air blower will carry the radon gas to a vent outside your home.

Only about 50% of the radon will be removed in the initial spraying. As such, you must spray the water several times to increase the removal efficiency. To have a supply of treated water, you must use a large holding tank or a 100-gallon tank.

Another aeration unit to try is the packed column, wherein the water will pass through a thin film with inert packing material inside the column. With this, the air blower will force the radon-contaminated air at the back of the column to an outdoor vent.

If the column is high, it can remove about 95% of radon in the water. Then, the final stage of the aeration system uses a shallow tray that will contact the water and the air.

Water will be sprayed into the tray and flow on the ashtray as the air is sprayed up through the tiny holes on the bottom. As such, it can remove more than 99.9% of radon in the water and vents outside your home. 

Levels of Radon to Look Out

How To Remove Radon From Drinking Water

No federal law or regulation enforces the standard radon level in drinking water. The EPA has proposed a rule to regulate the level of radon in drinking water from municipal water suppliers or those water systems catering to more than 25 households a year. The EPA does not regulate the water wells that are managed privately. 

The EPA has proposed that municipal or community water suppliers provide clean water with radon levels that are not more than 4,000 pCi/ L. As such, it only contributes up to 0.4 pCi/ L of radon inside your home.

With this requirement, it is assumed that the State also takes action to reduce radon levels indoors by developing EPA-approved air units. It also includes an enhanced indoor air program by the State called the Multimedia Mitigation Programs.

Most of the radon you breathe comes from the ground beneath your house. With this option, the State can focus its efforts on resolving bigger problems by encouraging the public to fix radon issues inside their homes and prevent them from entering.

With the proposed regulation, those States that did not wish to develop their indoor air programs are required to reduce radon levels in their community water systems by up to 300 pCi/L.

This amount of radon in the water will contribute only about 0.03 pCi/ L to the air inside your home. Even if a State does not develop and approve of an enhanced indoor air program, private homes may choose water systems with a local radon program and produce drinking water of 4,000 pCi/L.

EPA has proposed this under the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act framework. With this, the overall risks of people from radon in both air and water will be reduced.

Conclusion 

In sum, radon is present in our drinking water, and techniques and inventions are available to reduce its number. You can also try the Berkey Water Filters products for your home.  The Berkey black elements have been tested and certified to remove radon 222 to below detectable limits.  



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