Radon concentration in Jordanian drinking water and hot springs

Abstract

The radon concentration in Jordanian drinking water and hot springs has beenmeasured using the electret-passive environmental radon monitoring method. Thisstudy maps out Jordanian water sources from the north to the south as wellas the area around the capital Amman and the Jordan valley. Samples from 30sources were collected and analysed during the period from November 2001 toJune 2002. We have found that 60% of the drinking water sources have radonconcentrations above the proposed US Environmental Protection Agency limit of11 Bq l−1; these are mostly situated in the northern region of the country. Fortunately,these sources supplied only a small number of people since they weremainly located in rural areas. Tap water in the capital Amman, whereapproximately 35% of the population live, has a very low radon concentration,3.9 Bq l−1. However, the isolated northern drinking water wells did show a radon level as high as117 Bq l−1. Hot springs in Jordan have a radon level ranging between 63 and81 Bq l−1, again mainly in the northern region. In general we conclude that Jordanian drinkingwater is safe as far as radon concentration is concerned with the exception of a few isolatedlocal drinking water wells.