Originally published August 28 2005
School drinking water in Seattle fails lead tests
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Seattle Times recently reported that Seattle even after the installation of new drinking fountains in public schools, one-fourth of all the fountains still failed lead tests.
A new report shows that one-quarter of the drinking fountains installed at dozens of Seattle schools over the summer are still failing lead tests.
The company testing water quality in the schools thinks the problem is caused by small amounts of lead found in the new fountains and in piping "elbows" that connect the fountains to the water supply.
Instead, the company, HDR/EES, says the school district should try replacing some of the brass elbows with stainless steel or plastic parts and also run water through the new fountains to encourage the formation of compounds that act as a barrier to lead leaching.
"As we have eliminated some of the old bubbler heads and old piping, we are getting down to these fine levels where some of these small components are what we are after," Kirmeyer said.
The district has been replacing fountains after parental concerns about water quality persuaded the School Board more than a year ago to shut off fountains at most of its 100 schools and switch students to bottled water.
The replacement fountains conform to federal health standards and contain only trace amounts of lead --- about 0.2 percent, according to Kirmeyer.
For instance, all seven fountains tested at Roxhill Elementary were still failing, as were all five tested at Van Asselt Elementary.
But at High Point Elementary, six failing fountains all passed tests after filters were installed.
He said that may mean temporarily shutting down individual fountains in some of those schools.
The district also has been investigating mold over the summer, finding problems at more than half a dozen schools.
The district plans to open the school in September, he said, even if it means installing machinery to suck air out from under the classrooms to ensure students don't breathe in mold spores.
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