It appears my battle to evict the evil radon from the Killarney residence was a success. After a 48 hour resample period, levels have dropped from the 2018 lab tested 248 to 14 Bq/m3. Despite the favourable outcome, some issues remain outstanding and unresolved.     

1.  The 90 day sample is highly accurate yet it reported a significant margin of error along with the analysis, + or - 34 Bq/m3. That margin is much wider than the post abatement result of 14 Bq/m3. I don’t believe my digital device is capable of greater accuracy after 48 hours than the error margin of a 90 day test performed in a lab, nor is a result of negative 20 Bq/m3 even possible. So the sensitivity of the instrument is questionable (but not a reason not to purchase the equipment and do the install).

2.  The volume of flow being discharged out the 4 inch pipe is higher than I would like.  I’m concerned that my heated slab will be having the heat sucked out of it by the depressurization.   That will lose a lot of heat energy over a winter.  The heat loss is beneath the slab insulation (meaning we are pulling the heat out of the earth primarily) but still a concern. 

3.  I wonder about my attached neighbours house. She may be getting a fair bit of her slab depressurized as well due to the footing interconnection. If so one abatement may do the job of two abatement and that’s a nice bonus (because now I won’t have to do hers!). Sampling will need to be done in her side to confirm.   

4. I asked a trained installer to inspect photos of my system. They reported back the abs pipe we used above the fan isn’t allowed.  I think this is nonsense. If the abs pipe is ok to use for underground sewage it can blow out radioactive particles.  Also in the new homes we build we use 4 inch abs beneath the slab as the radon roughin. So it’s good enough below the slab but not ok above the slab?  PVC is much more expensive pipe than cellcore abs.  Two lengths were needed, but that stuff adds up quickly for long runs with many fittings (we didn’t have a long run or lots of fittings but I still don’t see the point of pvc).     

5. Lets throw in a criticism of the government to conclude the post. It is doing a great job of getting the word out about radon.  Yet it doesn’t post a material list and detailed instructions for homeowners.  It would rather hand out light bulbs than subsidize abatement kits for the most at risk families.  I think any home over some high number such as 600 Bq/m3 should get a free fan.  If the government can afford millions of flu shots it could bulk order 100k radon fans as well, and not from amazon.  Right from the factory.  Too many families that should deal with radon won’t, mostly because of the high cost.    

So that wraps up this expirement with diy abatement.  In a future post I will describe the cost in detail.  Figure on an all in cost of 500$ plus some labour from my undisclosed helper.