Following expressions of concern from some of our visitors we undertook to try to get some information on the subject of  radon in drinking water in the Grangecon area. It should be noted that practically all drinking water in this locality comes from private ground water sources (bored wells) and each well may produce different test results. It should also be noted that we are not making any statement about the safety or otherwise of any water or are we offering advice on water quality other than to take your advice from professionals in the field. We are merely presenting the information as a service to the community.

It would appear that the experts in this matter are The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII).
The only reference to the Grangecon area we could find was a report entitled "Radon in drinking water in Co Wicklow." published by the RPII in Feb 2003. While this report is quite long and rather technical, we have extracted a few basic figures from it for your information. The level at which action must be taken is 1000 Bq/l in a private water supply and 100 Bq/l in a public supply. This does not imply that these are "safe" levels as other factors are also involved. The level measured in Grangecon was 157 Bq/l. This level does not appear very high when compared with figures from other areas in the county but there are many areas with lower figures also. It is certainly well below the 1000 Bq/l level for private supplies mentioned in the report.
The Radiological Protection Institute have an excellent website at http://www.rpii.ie/ with a lot of information about radon as well as other topics. There is also information on how to take samples and have your water tested etc.

For further information, please contact:
MarieKelly(mkelly@rpii.ie)
Information Officer
Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland
3 Clonskeagh Square
Clonskeagh Road
Dublin 14
Ireland
Tel. 01 269 77 66
We hope that this information is of some use to the local population and if you require more info we suggest you contact the RPII or perhaps Wicklow Co Council who supply water in Mallens Wood only. All other supplies as far as we can establish are from private sources.