Lead found in drinking water of 3 MUN buildings, results still coming in
Memorial University now says there actually is lead in some of the drinking water on its St. John's campus.
Higher-than-safe levels of lead were found in certain taps in the Queen Elizabeth II library, the biotechnology building, and the chemistry-physics building.
The university is still awaiting test results from 10 of the 55 buildings on the St. John's campus.
At a news conference last week, vice president of Finance Kent Decker said there was no problem with the drinking water at MUN. He said initial testing wasn't carried out properly and lead was only found in places where people wouldn't actually drink the water.
However, on Tuesday, the university released the results of tests that showed otherwise. University spokesperson Paula Dyke said higher-than-safe lead levels were found in the "first tap or fountain people would logically go to have a drink" in the library and biotechnology building, as well as in a fifth-floor water fountain in the chemistry-physics building.
Dyke said MUN is still investigating the source of the lead. All uncleared buildings remain open, however, they continue to have drinking restrictions.
"There are lots of potential causes in terms of the fixtures in a particular tap, how long the water's been stagnant in the area," said Dyke.
Meanwhile, as more results come in, MUN said the water is safe to drink in seven more buildings on its St. John's campus Tuesday. It lifted drinking restrictions on another 10 buildings last Thursday.
"If the building has been cleared and the signage has been changed... then the water in those buildings is perfectly safe to drink," said Dyke.
The university shut down its St. John's campus from July 31 to August 1, after higher-than-acceptable levels of lead were found in the water supply for the music and engineering building.
Following the scare, MUN sent water samples from all 55 buildings on its St. John's campus to a testing facility in Halifax. Bottled water and filtered fountains are available in buildings that have not yet been cleared as lead-free.
