Consultant picked to test water in schools

By Sanjay Bhatt
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Seattle Public Schools has selected a Bellevue-based consultant for advice on testing the quality of water in school fountains and for developing a plan to address contaminated sites — the same firm that conducted comprehensive lead tests for the district in 1990.

Economic and Engineering Services, one of nine firms that responded to the district's request for proposals, will assist the district in establishing a water-testing protocol by April 15, said John Vacchiery, the district's facilities director. The district plans to issue a report on the test results of all schools — about 100 — by June 15.

The School Board voted hastily in December to supply bottled water to all schools after learning that taps in at least four schools whose drinking water had dangerously high levels of lead were left unfixed for almost a decade. Two Wedgwood Elementary parents who paid to have water samples there tested spurred the board into taking the action.

While district officials originally estimated that testing could be done in January with results made available by February, Vacchiery said that timeline assumed the district's staff would do the water testing itself.

Angry Wedgwood parents accused the district of trying to cover up the severity of the problem. School Board members directed staff to hire an outside consultant, Vacchiery said.

The consultant will advise the district on where it should test the water in each building, what it should test for and how schools should be ranked for testing.

Schools with acceptable test results would stop receiving bottled water and have their drinking-water sources turned back on, according to a district memo.

A 1993 district report recommended replacing pipes in four schools after testing revealed toxic lead levels in the water, even after the pipes were flushed out. But the pipes were never replaced.

Neither state nor federal law require districts to test their buildings' drinking water routinely for safety; bills introduced this year in the Legislature have stalled.
 
The four school buildings — Wedgwood, Fairmount Park, Schmitz Park and Horace Mann (home to NOVA High School) — are scheduled to have pipes and fixtures replaced this summer, though the consultant could advise the district on alternatives.

About 40 Seattle schools have the kind of plumbing that could cause elevated lead levels in drinking water.

Vacchiery estimates the cost of replacing the pipes in them would top $10 million.

District plans call for completing a remediation plan by September.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com

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