School districts in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area are struggling with lead-tainted water fountains.
An investigation of lead testing records from six school districts found lead in the water at some point in time, according to KDKA television. Many of the positive tests reported to be dozens of times higher than levels the Environmental Protection Agency acts came from faucets like nurses’ offices or locker rooms.
“When they review test results from districts across Pennsylvania, 91 percent of those tests came back positive for lead,” David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, told the station.
Pennsylvania currently has no laws in place that require schools to test water and have no standards on how tests should be conducted.
One reason for the neglect, Masur speculates, is an ironic one. The Safe Drinking Water Act passed by Congress exempts most schools from complying with the law designed to protect children.
A bill is being introduced this month in the state legislature to address the issue. If approved, the bill will allocate $30 million to eliminate unsafe lead levels.
The Pittsburgh School District is one district that has been proactive with lead-tainted water since 2016 when it started replacing old drinking fountains with lead-filtering bottle-filling stations.
Dave Lubach is executive editor of the facilities market.
