Denver, Colorado’s Risk from Radon in Water

What is Waterborne Radon?

As radium decays, the gas known as radon seeps up from the ground and becomes diluted in the air. Normally, this dissolution happens on a regular basis and is not harmful to human beings since the exposure levels are extremely low. However, if the radon is unable to become diluted and instead begins to concentrate, it can reach deadly levels. Radon in water can cause several severe ailments, including lung cancer, and has been the cause of many deaths around the world. Unfortunately, it can be found in the water supplies of many homes in the Denver area.

The Health Impact of Radon in Water

Drinking the water is actually the least of your worries if your home’s water supply is contaminated with radon. However, whenever you use this water, the radon it contains is released into your home’s air. Inhaling this gas will cause most of the harm to your health from radon in water exposure. Tens of thousands of reports come in each year of lung cancer that is directly caused by inhaling radon gas. Without proper ventilation, the gas has nowhere to go but into your lungs. With more than 500,000 people in the Denver metro area alone, the potential for danger is significant, to say the least. Without proper testing, radon could be leaking out of your water and into your home without you having any knowledge of it. Even if the main water supply is unaffected, radon gas could still be affecting those who are supplied by private wells. Therefore, you should have your home tested regularly to ensure that you detect any radon contamination early.

What Can Be Done About Waterborne Radon

If your water is found to contain dangerous amounts of radon, you should contact SWAT Environmental to have the issue corrected. There are a few methods available for removing radon from water. The generally most effective units for this purpose are called aerators; they inject air into the water to release the radon. The deadly gas is then funneled into a pipe that usually leads up to your roof to safely dispose of it. Alternately, Granular Activated Carbon, or GAC, filtration units trap the radon molecules and prevent them from exiting the tap into the household until they eventually degrade. However, this option is generally not as widely used since it only removes the radon right before it exits the faucet, rather than before it gets into the house at all.

Regardless of the abatement method SWAT’s experts decide to use in your house, you should remember to have your home’s water tested for radon regularly. Doing so could potentially save you or members of your family from serious future health problems. As soon as a test returns a positive for waterborne radon in your home, do not put off dealing with the problem. You should have the radon in water removed before it becomes a serious health risk.