Radon
Most often, the radon in your home’s indoor air can come from two sources, the soil or your water supply. Compared to radon entering your home through water, radon entering your home through soil is usually a much larger risk. If you are concerned about radon and you have a private well, consider testing for radon in air and if radon is elevated in the air, then consider testing the water.
The radon in your water supply poses an inhalation risk and a small ingestion risk. Most of your risk from radon in water comes from radon released into the air when water is used for showering and other household purposes. Research has shown that your risk of lung cancer from breathing radon in air is much larger than your risk of stomach cancer from swallowing water with radon on it.
Radon in your home’s water is not usually a problem when its source is surface water. A radon in water problem is more likely when its source is ground water, e.g., a private well or a public water supply system that uses ground water.
If you’ve tested your private well and have a radon in water problem, it can be easily fixed. Your home’s water supply can be treated in one of two ways. Point-of-entry treatment for the whole house can effectively remove radon from the water before it enters your home’s water distribution system. Point-of-entry treatment usually employs either granular activated carbon filters or aeration systems.
While GAC filters usually cost less than aeration systems, filters can collect radioactivity and may require a special method of disposal. Point-of-use treatment devices remove radon from your water at the tap, but only treat a small portion of the water you use, e.g., the water you drink. Point-of-use devices are not effective in reducing the risk from breathing radon released into the air from all water used in the home.
The EPA doesn’t currently have a maximum contamination level for radon in water. Therefore, we can test for radon in your well water, however; we can not tell you if the value is harmful or not.
For information on radon in water, testing and treatment, and radon in drinking water standards, or for general help, call your state radon office or EPA’s Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791 or visit www.epa.gov/safewater/radon.html.