Water testing
Water samples taken by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District last summer tested dangerously high for lead in 60 older school buildings, according to school officials. Children haven't been exposed to the the water since last year though-- the district has provided water coolers for all schools that were tested. All 582 water outlets where water samples came back tainted will be replaced and then retested, school officials said.
(AP )
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Water testing in the Cleveland Municipal School District has uncovered dangerously high levels of lead in samples taken from drinking fountains, sinks and other water sources in 60 older school buildings, the district reported today.
The school district voluntarily tested more than 5,000 water samples in 69 schools, starting over the summer, and found 582 were above the Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water standards. These included 79 drinking fountains and 40 faucets in common areas.
Some of the water samples were shockingly toxic. A bathroom sink at Wilbur Wright Elementary School on the city's West Side, which houses Pre-K to eighth-grade students, tested at 4,480 parts per billion. Water from a drinking fountain at Tremont Montessori School had lead levels of 1,560 parts per billion.
The EPA's drinking water "action level" is 15 parts per billion.
(You can find the district's full reports for each building here or enter your school name to find results in the box below).
The school district will remove and replace all the fixtures and fittings on the 582 outlets that had results above the EPA standard, said Patrick Zohn, the school district's chief operating officer.
Children haven't been exposed to the water this school year. All the tested schools were provided water cooler stations in the fall and any buildings with high results will continue to receive outside water until the repairs are made and a final test confirms no further issues.
"We're taking a cautious, conservative approach," Zohn said.
The district is expected to notify parents today.
Exposure to lead in small children, and particularly infants, can lead to IQ deficits and lifelong health, learning and behavior problems. There is no safe level of lead exposure. The heavy metal is toxic at any level and has no use in the body.
Most children with lead poisoning are exposed to the toxin at home by ingesting fine particles of deteriorated lead-based paint or lead-contaminated soil. Far fewer are exposed by drinking water.
Cleveland's water supply is regularly tested for lead and has consistently been found safe.
Dr. Bruce Lanphear, former director of Cincinnati Children's Hospital's Environmental Health Center, cautioned against dismissing the danger to students, though.
School water fountains "can be an important minor source of lead intake for dozens, or even hundreds of children," said Lanphear, professor of children's environmental health at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Lead levels in water as low as 5 parts per billion can be cause for concern, Lanphear said.
Marc Edwards, a civil engineer at Virginia Tech and part of the team that helped uncover the Flint lead water crisis, agreed, noting that the EPA's 25-year-old action level for drinking water is outdated and not based on what's healthy.
Both Lanphear and Edwards said the school district's actions -- providing bottled water, taking unsafe taps out of service and replacing problem fixtures -- are the best way to protect children.
Decision to act
No federal or state law requires schools using a public water supply to test water for lead or other contaminants.
It was the crisis in Flint, Michigan, last year that prompted Cleveland school district officials to examine their testing records, said Zohn.
In Flint, a switch to a more corrosive water source -- the Flint River -- caused a spike in the amount of lead leached from old pipes in the city, leading to lead poisoning in many children.
"You didn't need the gift of prescience to know that someone would eventually say here 'Well, what's the school district doing?'" said Zohn.
That's what happened in Chicago, where an inquiry from the Chicago Tribune last spring led city schools to begin testing their water. (Results of those tests are here).
Cleveland schools had tested water most recently in 2000, when more than 100 school buildings had issues.
Over the summer, the school district hired Getco Environmental Consultants to begin testing every water source for lead in 65 school buildings constructed before 2002. Another four schools built after 2002 were tested to rule out problems in the district's newer structures.
A total of 5,124 samples were taken from drinking fountains, outdoor hoses, bathroom and kitchen sinks, slop and lab sinks, and other sources beginning in July.
Of these, about 1,200 had levels of lead above the EPA action level of 15 parts per billion. One sample, taken from a bathroom sink in an administrative building, tested at 79,400 parts per billion.
Many of the first results were particularly high because outlets hadn't been used in the schools for a month when samples were taken, giving the water more time to sit and accumulate the toxin.
A second round of testing using the same EPA-recommended method confirmed high lead levels in 582 of the 1,200 initially high water samples, including 119 drinking water sources. That's about 9 percent of the drinking water sources tested, which include drinking fountains and any sink where a student or faculty member might fill a cup to drink.
None of the four newer buildings tested -- Euclid Park, James A. Garfield, George Washington Carver and Mound Elementary schools -- had any problems.
The school district also tested water samples gathered after water had been flushed from each of the outlets for 30 seconds to determine if the lead was more likely coming from the fixtures or the plumbing leading to them.
They'll use that information when replacing the 582 water outlets that tested over the EPA level, said Robert Kasler, the school district's trades director. The school district will also replace the non-working and out-of-service water sources, which numbered about 40.
Work ongoing, no firm cost estimate
School officials do not yet know how much it will cost to fix the district's water issues.
Cleveland has spent $140,000 for water stations in the 69 schools where testing took place this year, and has budgeted $50,000 for this purpose through the end of the semester. Some schools will still need the service while water outlets are replaced, adding to the cost.
Water testing to date has cost about $390,000 and is not complete.
The district does not yet have an estimate for the total cost of replacing the water outlets.
A state law passed in June provides up to $15,000 per building to school districts for replacing lead pipes and fixtures as well as reimbursement for some costs of water testing. Cleveland has applied for this funding, Zohn said.
After each outlet is replaced, Getco consultants will again test for lead to be sure the problem is resolved.
But for the school district water sources that initially tested near the EPA limit but did not trigger follow-up testing, the plan is less clear. Over time, many become hazards as the fixtures continue to age.
School officials said they do not know how or whether they will monitor these potentially hazardous water sources in the future but will "probably" follow up.
"We're just kind of focused on getting through this right now," said Zohn. "We can certainly do a survey of the data and include that in follow-up discussions."
Plain Dealer researcher Jo Ellen Corrigan contributed to this report.
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