Wayne Hill, Wayne Hill, Marah Water Treatment, 5629 Pickwick Road, Centreville, VA  20120, Tel: 603-631-1798  Fax: 703-273-2282
Jahan Mazharideh Kordi, Douglas Mose and George Mushrush, Chemistry Department and Center for Basic and Applied Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, Tel: 703-993-1068, Fax: 703-273-2282

Single measurements of waterborne radon in several hundred homes with private water wells, plus years of multiple measurements in tens of homes, reveal that in northern Virginia, private wells deliver potable water with most dissolved radon concentrations at less than 10,000 pCi/L, with an average of about 2,500 pCi/L (the US-EPA recommended Maximum Concentration Level is 300 pCi/L). Experiments were conducted in many homes over several years to determine if activated charcoal installed in commonly used water treatment tanks (@ 1 foot diameter, @ 5 foot tall) could successfully reduce the concentration of waterborne radon for many months or years. It was found that most types of activated charcoal available to water treatment specialists lost their ability within weeks or months to retain radon long enough to keep the radioactivity decay activity contained to inside the treatment tank. However, activiated charcoal made from coconut shells worked the longest. It was also found that larger amounts of charcoal worked better. Taken together, it was found that 2 1/2 cubic feet of coconut activated charcoal worked so well that in most homes, the radon decay was contained to the treatment tanks for years.   

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