Radon Mitigation for City Hall of Moline Illinois
Challenge
Sarah who works for the City of Moline as a Fleet and Facility Maintenance Coordinator, was concerned about the radon levels in the Moline City Hall building. After a radon test was conducted and the results were received at over seven picocuries. (The EPA say that 4 picocuries are the “acceptable” level of Radon, Radon at any level is extremely dangerous and is the number on leading cause to lung cancer in the United States.) Sarah contacted MidAmerica Basement Systems, she was eager to get the projects started for the safety of the City Hall employees.
Solution
Design Specialist Cole Tatge was eager to take on the challenge of this project. The City Hall building was built in 1914, though the exterior of the building has been altered over time, it is still a key location in the Historic District of Moline.
When working on the Moline City Hall project it was important to Cole to maintain the visual architecture of the building. This means placing all of the pipes and systems in a way that hides the system, but does not interfere with the integrity of the radon mitigation process. This was challenging because the building is over 100 years old and has very tall 13-foot ceilings that include heavy clay ceiling tiles. Sarah was amazing to work with and was in the process of having several windows in the lower levels of the buildings replaced. This gave Cole a great opportunity in suggesting a plexiglass window instead of glass that allowed the system to exit via a window instead of the very thick concrete walls that the building is made of.
The City Hall of Moline is two separate buildings which required three radon systems due to the size of the buildings. All three radon mitigation systems were premium bundles including aesthetic packages to give the building a cleaner look. By giving the building a cleaner look with aesthetic packages, you are also guaranteed that the system will be protected from the outdoor elements. Sarah was very concerned with how damp the basement of the buildings was and had nine different dehumidifiers running to try and keep the space somewhat dry. Cole suggested a two SaniDry Sedona system instead. A SaniDry Sedona is a powerful dehumidifier big enough to do any job. The SaniDry will dry the air and automatically drain the water out of a hose so you never have to empty it, like a conventual dehumidifier.
Sarah was shocked at how inexpensive this project was and was prepared to spend upwards of fifty thousand dollars to ensure the safety of the City Hall employees. Moline City Hall is now fully equipped with three top of the line Radon Mitigation systems.
