Long-term testing of school water proposed

By Sanjay Bhatt
Seattle Times staff reporter

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A Seattle School Board committee discussed a draft proposal yesterday that would commit the district to long-term water testing, notifying parents of results and appointing an oversight committee.

The proposal would require that water from school drinking fountains contain no more than 20 parts per billion (ppb) of lead, the level at which the Environmental Protection Agency recommends remedial action. The proposal also would require school drinking water to meet Seattle Public Utilities' standards for iron, zinc, turbidity and color. The district hasn't had aesthetic standards for its drinking water.

Fountains not meeting health and aesthetic standards would be taken out of service and the schools given bottled water. The district has allocated $400,000 in next year's budget for supplying bottled water to 60 schools.

In April, the district began releasing results of water-quality testing in its buildings amid criticism from some who said they should have been notified earlier about the levels of lead. So far, 62 of 94 buildings had two or more fountains with water that, after standing for at least six hours, contained more than 20 ppb. About 3 percent of the district's fountains that were flushed for 30 seconds showed lead levels more than 20 ppb.

The intent of the proposed procedures is "so that parents will have confidence in the drinking water in our public schools," said board member Sally Soriano, chairwoman of the policy and legislative committee. She said the proposal, modeled on a Minnesota policy, likely will be introduced at an Aug. 18 public hearing, with the board to vote on it Sept. 1.

Lead is commonly found in plumbing materials and water-service lines and enters tap water through corrosion. While experts agree there is no safe level of lead in drinking water, they say differing circumstances — such as how much water is ingested or a child's exposure to lead at home — make it difficult to assess precise health impacts. They also say it is unlikely any child has been harmed by Seattle school water.

Last week, the King County Board of Health recommended that the county's 18 school districts outside Seattle test drinking water in older schools, something schools across the country are confronting. Schools aren't required to test water under federal law.

Seattle schools last conducted comprehensive water testing in 1992. After an ambitious campaign to "Get the Lead Out" of drinking water in the early 1990s, public attention to the issue faded. District managers switched to a more passive response, responding to water-quality complaints by testing only affected fountains and recommending that custodians flush them routinely, even though they knew compliance was spotty, district records show.

Ron English, the district's water-quality project manager, said all fountains could now be retested every three years, the same schedule public water suppliers keep in monitoring lead and copper levels in tap water.

Yesterday, English couldn't estimate how much the remediation plan will cost. Under a worst-case scenario, he estimated it could take three years for all the fountains to be fixed.
 
Each school's test results suggest how the district will attack the problem. For example, fountains that failed "standing-water" tests but passed "flushed-water" tests point to lead-leaching fountain fixtures that should be replaced, while fountains that failed both tests suggest a more pervasive corrosion problem in the pipes.

At four schools — Fairmount Park, Mann, Schmitz Park and Wedgwood — the district will replace all water pipes this summer, more than a decade after a consultant told the district it should do so.

Less-expensive options at other schools include replacing individual fixtures and installing filters.

Under the draft proposal, the board would appoint by Nov. 1 up to seven members to serve on a Water Quality Oversight Committee.

The committee of water-quality health experts, parents and administrators would report to the board at least twice a year. Soriano said she expects public-health, Seattle Public Utilities and national experts would be invited to participate.

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