Radon contamination is one of the biggest water quality issues that we face here in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the contaminants that poses the biggest health risks to the people who are exposed to it. If your home’s water contains high levels of radon, it’s important to filter it out so that your home’s indoor environment can be safe. Today we’re going to help you do that by talking about how to remove radon from your water!
What is radon?
Radon is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that occurs naturally in rocks and soil. The gas is produced by the breakdown of uranium in soil, rocks and water. Radon can be found in high levels in many parts of New Hampshire.
What are the health effects of radon?
There are two ways people can be exposed to radon in water. One way is by drinking water that contains a dissolved concentration of the gas. This threat is much less severe than the second method of exposure, however the EPA says that drinking water that contains high levels of radon can increase your risk of developing stomach cancer.
The second way of being exposed to radon in water is by breathing it in. When water is used for daily tasks like showering, washing dishes and doing the laundry, radon is released from the water and gets stuck in the air in our homes. This is a much more severe threat, especially when you consider the fact that breathing in radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer.
How to remove radon from water
There are two possible ways to remove radon from your home’s water:
- 1. Install a carbon filter. With carbon filters, water contaminants are attracted to the carbon media and get stuck onto it. Although this will remove radon from your water, it is not considered a safe method. That’s because radon will accumulate in unsafe levels onto the carbon filter and can contaminate the surrounding air.
- 2. Install an atmospheric storage tank. This is the preferred method for removing radon from your water. In an atmospheric storage tank, water is violently aerated by mixing in air. Radon is removed from the water during this process, and it is travels up a pipe and is exhausted out of your home.
Regardless of how you remove radon from your water, it should be done with a whole house filter as opposed to a point-of-use system. Since radon can be released into the air anywhere that water is used, a whole house system is the only option because it will alleviate this threat at every tap in your home.
If you have any questions about how to remove radon from water, or if you’d like a water system serviced or installed in your home, contact McBride’s, your water softener and water filtration system dealer in Epsom, NH. We provide service all over New Hampshire, including towns like Chichester, Raymond and Lee, NH.
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