What’s more important than good, clean, healthy water? Clean air, perhaps? What if the air you breathe is polluted by the water you drink. You need to take care of both.
In North America, well owners are responsible for the safety of their own well water. That means yearly checkups. What a lot of people don’t know is that radon, an identified carcinogen by regulatory health bodies around the world including the US EPA and Health Canada, is soluble in water and releases into the air when agitated. If you’re a little agitated learning about this, you’re not alone.
In the United States, there are over 13.5 million homes on private wells. One in
every eight Canadians rely on private
water supplies, most of which rely on rural groundwater sources. Yet how many people include radon as part of their healthy water checklist when testing their wells. It’s up to them to do it.
Radon can be inhaled and ingested. 25,000 North Americans die every year from radon-induced lung cancer. Those numbers are staggering. While lung cancer is the leading concern from off-gassing radon, stomach cancer accounts for 87% of the ingestion risk. Sensitive cells in the gastrointestinal tract and other organs get irradiated once radon is absorbed into the bloodstream.
There are solutions. We talk with Jamie MacKinnon of MacKinnon Water Solutions about a new radon in water mitigation system called Airwell™, how the technology developed, and where it’s heading.
Your family has been in the business of water solutions for generations. How
did it start?
My father and his brothers were all water well drillers in Prince Edward Island. My father moved to Toronto with a friend of his that was also a well driller. He then got married and moved to the small town of Pembroke, Ontario in 1970 where he then started the business. I grew up within the business and took it over with my brother Rob in 1999.
When did you first discover that radon
could be a contaminant in well water?
There was a board meeting we attended where somebody heard in the news that radon was known as a cancer-causing gas, which was entering the home through
well water.
How did you get involved with Airwell?
We were predominately a well drilling company. We were looking into ways to diversify, and the Airwell was something that we felt comfortable with to treat well water quality issues.
Could you tell us about the technology and how it differs from other radon in water mitigation approaches?
It is the only technology that gets installed directly into the customer’s well and, therefore, we use a small 12V DC brush-less, oil-less compressor to aerate the entire well through hydrodynamic pressure.
Airwell is unique, because it mitigates well water issues right at the source (the well). Therefore, there is no equipment taking up space in the customer’s home, and there would be no risk of flooding.
I read case studies where there was up to a 99% radon reduction? Now that is amazing. And it mitigates other contaminants too?
Yes, it can also reduce iron levels, sulfur, manganese, and all other inert gases.
How long does a typical install take? What about the noise factor for Airwell?
The beautiful thing about Airwell is the average install can be done in less than three hours. As for the noise, we are currently working on reducing the noise down to a quality dishwasher.
I read that if you’re on a well, there’s a 100% chance you have radon. How often do well owners need to test their wells for radon?
It’s my belief that there may be a 100% chance you have radon in your well, but in some wells, it is so low, it may be undetectable. I don’t want to deter people from not testing, because we have seen in real world cases that wells that are in close proximity, one can have very high levels, and the other very low levels.
I would recommend that people test their well for radon every three years as aquifers can change directions or open new aquifers into the well.
Ok, so we’ve got to add radon to the healthy water checklist for the lab when getting our water tested for other contaminants like arsenic and lead.
People tend to focus on water quality aesthetics, like staining or odour, more than the unseen health related toxins.
You appeared in episode six of Holmes and Holmes, installing Airwell on a country home alongside David Innes, Director of Sales for Radon Environmental. How was it being on the show with Mike Holmes Jr.?
Mine was a very small part, as thankfully a shy guy like me didn’t have to speak. It was a great experience and exposure.
I’ll bet you received a lot interest in Airwell after that.
After the airing, there was a lot of social media buzz, which helped promote our product on a wider scale.
What’s the future for this new technology?
We can see a lot of people moving to this technology. It is much less intrusive to the home, cost effective, and therefore providing piece of mind to families.
Safe, secure drinking water is vital for everyone. Thanks for helping educate us on this modern approach to radon in water mitigation, Jamie. It’s saving lives across North America.
It feels good to know that a product that I helped to bring to the consumer is saving lives from a widely unknown silent killer.
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There’s more good news. Jamie and Rob MacKinnon, founders of Airwell Technologies,partnered just this year with Radon Environmental. Radon Environmental’s strategic investment and knowledge in all things radon means Airwell is going global. Greater water security is coming for everyone.
In case you missed Jamie on the full episode ofHolmes and Holmes, watch an excerpt of the Airwell install video on YouTube (2:11 minutes).
To find out more about Airwell, get in touch with DavidInnes, Director of Sales at Radon Environmental:[email protected]
Learn more, find Airwell case studies:www.radoncorp.com/airwell
Read Radon in Water: What you need to know
Let’s talk on social media:@radoncorp
Making Water Safe
By Alana McFarlane, Radon Environmental
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