FARMINGTON – According to district officials, lead levels at the W.G. Mallett School are back to normal for the most part, but students are still drinking bottled water.
Earlier this month, it was announced that water tests taken over April vacation showed lead levels slightly exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard of .015 parts per million.
According to the EPA, regular consumption of water with lead levels above the .015 ppm could possibly be harmful to children below the age of 2 and pregnant women.
Possible side effects could include neurological damage and stunted mental and physical development.
Lead levels at Mallett ranged from .023 ppm (.008 ppm over the standard level), down to .009 ppm (.006 ppm below standard level). Three of the elevated levels were within .003 ppm more than the limit. Although Mallett water comes directly from the town’s supply, the lead problem was isolated to the school grounds.
As a result, drinking fountains were turned off and bottled spring water was shipped in for students and faculty to drink.
But Tom Holt, superintendent of the Farmington Water Supply, said there was no way Mallett water could have passed the test, pointing out that because pipes had been inactive for several days prior to the testing, lead may have built up in the supply.
Holt also said that the same day water was drawn from Mallett taps for the testing, all of the hydrants on Quebec Street, where the school is located, had been flushed, causing the system to be “shaken up.”
Retesting was done, and although the official results have yet to be released, Assistant Superintendent Paul Knowles said earlier this week that “the new tests were fine.”
According to Knowles, lead levels were back below the limit in five of the six testing locations. Only the sink in the teacher’s room still showed elevated levels and some new piping to that sink will be put in and the system will be flushed, he said.
Still, on Thursday, Mallett Principal Melvin Burnham said until he saw the new results, kids would continue to drink bottled water. “I want to see it in writing before I do anything,” he said.
sdepoy@sunjournal.com
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