LEWISTON — It’s safe to drink the water in Maine schools, a state health official said Friday.

Only one Maine school was under a “do not drink” order from the state as of that day. That order applies to Songo Locks Elementary School in Naples because of high uranium levels. It is expected to be lifted soon after test results come back.

An Associated Press story reported Friday that across the country drinking water at schools has contained unsafe levels of lead, pesticides or other toxins, and that the problem was largely unmonitored by the federal government.

In Maine since 1998 there have been 417 water-quality violations in schools. That number of violations was the third highest in the country, the AP story reported.

Roger Crouse of the Maine Center for Disease Control said Friday that the 417 violations are old and have been resolved, and that water in Maine schools is safe.  

Crouse monitors public drinking water from wells, which covers hundreds of schools in Maine. He does not monitor schools that get their water from municipalities, including Lewiston and Auburn, because those sources are already monitored.

Maine schools have had hundreds of violations since 1998 because many schools use well water, Crouse said.

“When you have a lot of schools on wells, there’ll be a lot of testing and the violation numbers will be higher. Violations numbering 417 is not insignificant, but it’s not as alarming as it sounds, he said.

A violation doesn’t mean there’s a health risk, he said. Sometimes there’s a bacteria violation which indicates the issue needs to be corrected, but the water is still safe to drink. Other times a violation is a health risk, and the state issues a “do-not-drink” or “boil-before-drinking” order, he said.

Among the 417 schools on the AP list is the Poland Community School and the Minot Consolidated School.

“We’ve taken care of that,” said Dennis Duquette, school superintendent for Minot, Poland and Mechanic Falls schools.
At the Minot school “we closed down the well two years ago and tapped into the town well. We also put in a filtration system.”

Tests showed that coliform, a bacteria, was in the school water, Duquette said. “Coliform is usually from animal droppings that wash into the water stream. There’s a lot of farmland here in Minot. There is no municipal water supply.”

At the Poland school last year, tests showed high levels of uranium in the school water. “It didn’t meet state standards,” Duquette said. Uranium is a natural occurrence in ground water and the bedrock, he said.

“We didn’t have to stop using the water. It was a warning. But if there’s a warning, who are we to say it’s not going to affect the health of students? We stopped using the water for drinking, washing and cooking.”

The school switched to bottled water. “We called Poland Spring. The very next day they came up with 20 bubblers. They didn’t charge us.”

Last summer a new well was dug for the school. “The water’s been tested at least four times since school’s open,” Duquette said, adding it may be overkill. “Parents count on us to do the right thing.”

[email protected]