Ahmed El-Sharkawy¹, Hanan Al-Ghamdi^2*

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¹ Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority, Cairo, Egypt.
² Physics Department, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, KSA.
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Abstract: Groundwater samples with high total dissolved solids (TDS) were collected from private wells in Al Sharqiya and Tabouk regions in Saudi Arabia to determine the ²²²Rn activities and to investigate the factors that may control the presence of radon in these wells. The radon activity levels in Al Sharqiya groundwater wells showed an average value below the maximum contaminant level proposed by EPA for drinking water. In contrast, all the sampled wells in Tabouk region exhibited ²²²Rn concentrations exceeding 300 pCi/L, the maximum contaminant level (MCL) recommended by the USEPA, which may be explained by the nature of aquifers in both regions. Within the limited number of groundwater samples, it was observed that the radon content of Al Sharqiya sampled wells has good correlations with some chemical parameters (TDS and Eh) in these wells. The observed correlations between the water chemistry and the radon activities in groundwater do not necessarily imply a relationship between the two events. Furthermore, these chemical parameters may reflect the presence of nearby radium in rocks surface. Radon wasn’t influenced by the chemical environment in the investigated Tabouk wells but, may be is more controlled by other factors: the direct parent ²²⁶Ra content and the nature of the aquifer matrix (grain size and permeability in the Saq aquifer rocks).

Keywords: Radon, Groundwater, Radium, RAD-7, Gamma Spectrometry, Saudi Arabia

Cite this paper: El-Sharkawy, A. and Al-Ghamdi, H. (2018) Study of the Presence of Radon in Groundwater from Two Regions in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 10, 654-662. doi: 10.4236/jwarp.2018.107037.

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