Radon in Groundwater of the Northeastern Gran Canaria Aquifer

Abstract

222Rn has been detected in 28 groundwater samples from the northeast of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) utilizing a closed loop system consisting of an AlphaGUARD monitor that measures radon activity concentration in the air by means of an ionization chamber, and an AquaKIT set that transfers dissolved radon in the water samples to the air within the circuit. Radon concentration in the water samples studied varies between 0.3 and 76.9 Bq/L. Spanish radiological protection regulations limit the concentration of 222Rn for drinking water to 100 Bq/L, therefore the values obtained for all the analyzed samples are below this threshold. The hydrogeological study reveals a significant correspondence between the radon activity concentration and the material characteristics of the aquifer. For a selected group of samples with high radon concentrations, gross alpha activity has been determined to have values higher than the prescriptive screening level (0.1 Bq/L).

Keywords

• radon activity
• gross alpha
• groundwater tracer
• volcanic terrain
• normative