Radon in groundwater: A tool to assess infiltration from surface waters to aquifers

We measured the concentrations of natural 222Rn (half-life 3.8 days) in groundwater at three sites in Switzerland; here groundwater is recharged mainly by river water. Upon infiltration and movement in the ground, the radon concentration in the water increases by more than two orders of magnitude to reach a steady state. This increase was found at two of the three sites. At the site of main interest, we used the ingrowth of radon between the river and nearby observation wells to estimate groundwater residence times of up to about four half lives. We assumed that the ingrowth of radon can be described by the growth law of radioactivity, that the progenitors of radon (226Ra, 238U) are homogeneously distributed in the aquifer, and that the freshly infiltrated water is not mixed significantly with older groundwater. A linear regression through the data at the site of main interest yielded an average flow velocity of 4.6 m −1, which confirms earlier tracer observations. Radon accumulates to higher concentrations, when the top soil layer is frozen or exhibits a high moisture content. During these conditions the radon data cannot be used for dating purposes.