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Drinking water lead levels above acceptable limit at 8 Kootenay Lake schools

Testing of drinking water in the Kootenay Lake School District has found lead levels above acceptable limits at eight of 22 schools sampled.

According to the district's health and safety officer, the testing was carried out in response to Health Canada cutting the maximum allowable concentration of lead in drinking water in half, from 0.01 milligrams per litre to 0.005 milligrams per litre.

"We had quite a number [of fountains] that we confirmed would have been acceptable under the old limit but they're not acceptable under the new limit," said Russell Warwick.

A Jan. 15 release on the School District 8 website flagged the schools with issues:

  • Hume Elementary School.

  • LV Rogers Secondary School.

  • Prince Charles Secondary School.

  • Rosemont Elementary School.

  • Salmo Elementary School.

  • South Nelson Elementary School.

  • Trafalgar Middle School.

  • Winlaw Elementary School.

Warwick said the lead is coming from service line solder joints and brass fittings that contain a lead alloy.

The testing found that in almost every case, flushing a fountain for five minutes resolved the issue and all eight schools are now under instruction to run the fountains every morning before students arrive.

"You get to stand there for five minutes and push the button down," he said. "It's typically the principal, or the principal assigns someone else."

According to Warwick, the flushing should mitigate any concerns of parents.

Craig Chivers/CBC
Craig Chivers/CBC

He said two fountains at Trafalgar Middle School where flushing didn't help have been taken out of commission.

Four Prince Charles Secondary fountains which were so unused they were covered in dust have been mothballed permanently because of the potential for water to stagnate in the units.

On the positive side, he said, the testing has confirmed that newer bottle fill stations which come with a lead filter are a good solution to the problem, so much so that the district has stocked up on the units to make sure they have enough for future needs.

"Part of the reason we purchased 10 of those fill stations as quickly as we did is because we anticipated a bit of a run on them, that as other school districts are testing, they are going to want these," he said.