The school district has announced plans to install filtration systems and replace water outlets testing with any amount of lead in them. In the first round of testing, there nine water outlets testing above the Environmental Protection Agency’s limit of 15 parts per billion for lead in the water. An additional 140 water outlets had tested with traces of lead below the EPA limit.
About two weeks after learning nine water outlets in five school buildings tested above the limit for lead in the water, Cherry Hill Public Schools have decided to take action beyond simply shutting off the affected water outlets.
At Tuesday’s board of education work session, Superintendent Joe Meloche announced a new water remediation plan where the district will not only replace water outlets testing above the limit for lead, but also other water outlets as well.
Meloche said the district is taking a number of steps, including installation of filtration systems on sinks in the district, removal of “bubbler” sinks in most classrooms and the replacement of water fountains testing for any traces of lead, including outlets testing below the lead action limit.
“We want to provide water, and we want to provide an environment that is safe for the kids,” Meloche said.
On Nov. 2, the school district released a report showing nine water sources in five school buildings tested for lead at levels higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s limit of 15 parts per billion. Under new regulations from the state Department of Education, districts are required to test every water source in every school building. Any sources testing above 15 parts per billion must be removed or capped.
In addition, the district had 140 water outlets test with some traces of lead in them. However, the amount of lead in those water sources was below the EPA limit.
Upon analyzing the first batch of results, Meloche said most of the affected water outlets were water fountains or sinks found in some classrooms known as bubblers. Bubblers are sinks with a water fountain-like outlet where the water bubbles up rather than pouring out as with a regular sink.
The district has decided to remove most of the bubblers from its classrooms. The only classrooms with bubblers will be preschool and kindergarten, as state regulations require bubblers in those classrooms.
“Any classrooms, other than preschool or kindergarten classrooms, that have bubblers, we will be eliminating them,” Meloche said. “In preschool and kindergarten classrooms with any reading of lead in them, we’ll be replacing them.”
In addition, the district is placing signs on sinks in classrooms saying sinks should only be used for hand washing.
The district also plans to take action on water outlets with even a tiny trace of lead in them. Meloche said localized filtration systems will be installed on any sinks testing with traces of lead in them.
Numerous water fountains will also be replaced. The district will replace any water fountain testing for any trace of lead with a filtered water bottle filling station. Some of these stations have already been installed at the high schools and middle schools.
Meloche said the district’s facilities team is working to get the replacement projects started as soon as possible. Assistant Superintendent for Business Lynn Shugars and the district’s facilities team was scheduled to meet with a vendor on Nov. 18. A concrete timeframe of when the work will take place is expected over the next couple of weeks.
The district has already shut off the water outlets testing above the EPA lead limit. So far, testing has occurred at the Malberg Administration building and six elementary schools: Woodcrest, Bret Harte, Horace Mann, Sharp, Stockton and Johnson.
All of the district’s buildings are scheduled for testing no later than Dec. 30. Because of the amount of time water outlets need to be flushed before testing occurs, testing can only be done when the school buildings are unoccupied. The first batch of testing occurred during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Another round of testing took place on Nov. 10 and 11, and testing will also occur during the winter break from Dec. 26 through Dec. 30.
Once the district receives the test results, action will be taken on any affected outlets using the same guidelines the district released on Tuesday night.
“We know how many we need to replace thus far,” Meloche said. “As we continue to receive the rest of the results throughout the district, we will continue to add to the list.”
To view the results from the district’s first round of lead testing, visit www.chclc.org.
