lead-poisoned water in schools

Parents at Bayshore P.S. received an alarming note on May 23 advising them that the water in the school had been found to be unfit for human consumption. It didn’t mention that high levels of lead had been found in the school’s water supply. The drinking fountains have been shut down.

Water coolers have been installed in the school and bottled water is being trucked in by the pallet.

The water was tested on May 22 and was found to contain 624 micrograms/L of lead, which is over 60 times higher than the acceptable level of below 10 micrograms/L, a standard defined by the Ontario government.

A second test was taken on May 22 after the system was flushed (letting the water run for 30 minutes) and this resulted in a reading of 382 micrograms/L, almost 40 times higher than the safe level. After letting the water run all night, another test on May 29 put the level at 27.1 micrograms/L, three times the acceptable level.

The school’s water system will continue to be flushed on a daily basis and another test will take place on Tues. June 5 (World Environment Day!).

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) policy states that schools serviced by the City of Ottawa do not require routine water testing but ALL schools must be flushed at least once a week.

Wow, so much expensive drinking water flushed down the drain – it must cost the taxpayer a fortune!

I am NOT suggesting that any of the board’s policies and procedures haven’t been scrupulously followed or that there is a problem in any other OCDSB school. I asked our trustee if there had been any problems with Bells Corners schools and she said that she hadn’t heard of anything.

But I do have some questions – were the Bayshore parents given the details about WHY the water fountains were closed (i.e. the extremely high levels of lead)? Children are more at risk for lead poisoning because their smaller bodies are in a continuous state of growth and development. Lead is absorbed at a faster rate compared to adults, which causes more physical harm than to older people.

I can appreciate that the OCDSB doesn’t want to alarm parents unnecessarily, but shouldn’t parents have the same information as staff, some of whom are worried about their own health and are considering getting blood tests done? As far as I can tell there has been no mention of the Bayshore water problem in the media and I can’t find anything on the school’s site or on the OCDSB’s site.

A bigger question – WHY is the water in Bayshore P.S. unfit to drink? If the taps were left running all night and it was still contaminated, isn’t it reasonable to assume that the problem is NOT in the school’s pipes but in the City of Ottawa’s aging infrastructure? Bayshore was built a long time ago, in the 60s.

Have any Bayshore/Accora residents had the water tested in their rental units?

Hmmmm, maybe when I go to the Bayshore Shopping Centre to check out the new Target store (the Bells Corners Zellers was left off the list) I’ll avoid the water fountains if I’m thirsty.