Seattle schools' drinking water still fails lead test
Results show 60% of Seattle district's new fountains fall short
Recent tests show that about 60 percent of new drinking fountains in Seattle's public schools -- installed to reduce the levels of contaminants in water -- have themselves failed to meet the district's standard for lead contamination, raising the possibility that more extensive repairs may be needed.
The district replaced 250 school drinking fountains over the past few months, after systemwide water tests last year found that about one-quarter of fountains overall had elevated levels of lead.
Ron English, a school district attorney overseeing the testing and repairs, said the new fountains were retested and more than half had lead levels exceeding the district's limit of 10 parts per billion, twice as stringent as the 20 ppb "action level" set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
About 30 percent of the new fountains exceeded even the more lenient EPA standard.
At Graham Hill Elementary, for example, seven out of eight new fountains tested over the district limit, with two registering 98 ppb for lead -- almost five times over the EPA limit. Results from a ninth fountain were not yet available.
Four out of six new fountains at Beacon Hill Elementary tested over the district limit, with readings ranging from 13 ppb to 58 ppb.
The district has installed filters on the problematic fountains in the hope of avoiding more costly pipe replacement, and the fountains are now being retested.
The new fountains cost less than $100 each. With filters, the price goes to about $200.
Of the dozen filter-equipped fountains already retested, two had lead levels between 10 ppb and 20 ppb, but English said that doesn't necessarily indicate a broader problem.
The district had hoped to have most schools on regular drinking water by the fall, and English said that while the consultants conducting the work "are still optimistic that that's what will happen, you need to see the laboratory results before you can do any speculating."
Continue reading this story from the Seattle P-I:
Seattle schools' drinking water still fails lead test
