High Levels

bethsalem wrote:

Interesting that you mention radon because today I carried out a very crude experiment to detect radon gas and its daughter decay products in the rain.

I placed a mesh bag of activated charcoal pellets at the bottom of a rain water downpipe and left it for about 4 hours in light rain. Before rain exposure the bag was measuring 12 cpm averaged over 5 minutes using an SBT-9 probe. After rain exposure I measured 25 cpm over 5 minutes using the same SBT-9 probe. Crude, I know, but it does point to radon washout, however weak.

I repeated this experiment as it rained lightly for about 2 hours this morning. Unlike the last time, I could detect no change in the cpm rate after the activated charcoal had been exposed to the rain.

Interesting and I would agree that in a rain event, you will get some increase in Radon levels, pending where your unit it located. I can see this on my indoor one located in the basement in a rainstorm event here and less of a change on my outside unit. The thing that gets me is when we are having good weather, not overcast for a few days and yet, several stations are or have increased or noticeable spikes recorded. Interesting input guys ! Thanks

To > Icebox, if your reading these, since there is no way to contact your via PM, on the NETC site, there is a pretty good size raise in levels around you. 2 stations showing some decent increases in levels, not just spikes, but gradual rises.

Geez, sitting here checking out the sites and both my programs tripped the alarm. Levels are and were pretty low, then all of a sudden, both popped a 35cpm. I have it set lower than most, but my norm here is kinda low as well.