Results from Seattle Public Schools' ongoing water testing program show that lead levels in some of the water samples collected last spring are higher than School Board-mandated standards of 10 parts per billion for lead content. Seattle's standard for lead is among the toughest in school districts nationwide - half of that allowed under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
The results indicated lead levels above district standards at 32 out of the district's 97 schools, involving a total of 323 water fountains and sinks. The samples were collected last May after the water had been shut off for several weeks to allow for arsenic tests.
"Our experts believe that lead levels can build up when water stands unused in the pipes for many days," Superintendent Raj Manhas said. "During regular use when water is flowing normally, lead levels are expected to be lower than the district's standard."
Testing is under way to identify the cause of these results. In the meantime, the district will tape off the affected water fountains and put signs on sinks instructing students and staff not to drink the water until compliance with the standard is demonstrated. The district will also provide bottled water as necessary to assure students and staff have access to safe water. The state and local health departments have also been notified.
The school district normally tests water every three years and was scheduled to routinely take water samples at these 32 schools in 2007, Manhas said. But because the district had already collected water samples during testing for arsenic in spring 2006, a decision was made to obtain results for lead as a way to get early results and reduce costs. The test results were requested in September and the district received them in late October.
Many of these non-compliant results were unexpected because they came from newer schools that do not have lead pipes, fixtures or solders, and that all had less than 10 parts per billion of lead when tested previously in 2004. Since 2004, the school district has spent $13 million to replace existing water pipes and has installed about 1,000 new fixtures in schools.
The latest test results were presented to the District's Water Quality Oversight Committee, comprised of community members and parents, last week. The committee, formed in March 2005 to oversee testing and repairs to the district's drinking-water system, agreed that fountains should be taped off and information signs placed on sinks until these new results can be explained. The test results will be known in several weeks.
The list of affected schools includes Adams, African American Academy, Alki, Ballard, Catherine Blaine, Brighton, Bryant, Coe, Concord, Dunlap, Emerson, Franklin, Greenwood, Nathan Hale, Hawthorne, Highland Park, Lafayette, Wing Luke, Madrona K-8, Maple, John Marshall, Nova (Mann), Orca at Columbia, Schmitz Park, John Stanford International School, TOPS at Seward, Washington, Wedgwood, West Seattle, Whitman, Whitworth and Wilson Pacific.[[In-content Ad]]
