Options presented to clean up schools' drinking water

By Sanjay Bhatt
Seattle Times staff reporter

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The total cost of cleaning drinking water in Seattle Public Schools could range between $8.3 million and $22.9 million, according to a district report presented yesterday.

Any of the three options, if approved by the board, would place the district among a select few districts in the country that meet the federal government's voluntary aesthetic guidelines for public water utilities, said Gregory Kirmeyer, project manager for Economic and Engineering Services, Inc., the Bellevue consultant hired by the district last spring. These guidelines deal with the taste, odor and color of water supplied by municipal and private utility companies.

Ron English, an attorney for the district managing the project, said the cost estimates aren't hard and could vary by as much as 20 percent. He presented three possible remediation plans that don't include the $3.7 million already committed by the district:

• Option 1, $4.6 million: Total pipe replacement at 10 schools and partial replacement in five schools' wings. Only half the locations in a school could exceed the voluntary standard for iron content, which is 0.3 parts per million (ppm).

• Option 2, $19.2 million: Total pipe replacement in buildings where iron levels anywhere exceed the voluntary standard. Right now, that's 45 schools.

• Option 3, $5.5 million: Total pipe replacement at 10 schools and partial replacement in 17 schools' wings. All locations in a school could not exceed a maximum iron level of 0.5 ppm.

Facilities Director John Vacchiery said the district was plowing unfamiliar ground with these massive waterline improvements. Like school districts across the country, Seattle is weighing tradeoffs between spending money on facilities and instruction. Unlike other districts, Seattle Public Schools is spending far more time and money on making its water as clean as or cleaner than tap water in homes.

All three options would rely on local voter-approved levies and assume a lead limit of 10 parts per billion (ppb). The federal limit recommended to schools is 20 ppb. Reducing lead levels alone to meet health standards would cost between $1.2 million and $2.2 million.

Prodded by Wedgwood parent and activist Mark Cooper in December 2003, the board committed the district to a policy, fashioned by Board Member Sally Soriano, of "assuring that students have free access to quality drinking water."

Since then, the district has supplied bottled water to schools and tested all drinking water fountains. Testing has shown that about one quarter of district fountains exceed 20 ppb. Public health officials say lead exposure can damage a child's brain but caution that it is unlikely that any child in Seattle has suffered neurological damage — a position that likely will be scrutinized by experts Cooper has invited to speak Oct. 30 at the University of Washington, where he is a biology professor.
 
Yesterday, Kirmeyer urged the board to act quickly to replace all pipes at six schools. These schools' pipes are in very poor condition. Some schools have plumbing connections with non-potable water sources that could permit coliform bacteria to enter the drinking water. Kirmeyer emphasized that no disease-causing bacteria, such as E.coli, were detected in school drinking-water samples. The board's policy committee plans to discuss the issue in two weeks.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103