Hamilton Co. Schools found low percentage of contaminants in school drinking water

A recent report from the Hamilton County Schools released data on how much of their schools drinking water was contaminated with lead.

Out of 806 samples recently collected at the 27 schools, 12 samples included lead at a concentration at or greater than the state’s limit of 20 parts per billion (ppb).  Lead typically enters drinking water due to the wearing away of piping, faucets, fixtures, and other plumbing materials. Because lead is tasteless, odorless, and colorless in drinking water, testing is a way to learn if lead is present.

Steve Doremus with Hamilton County Schools said water quality testing is done routinely for the student’s safety. “We have an ongoing water testing program throughout our school district. Two years ago that began with testing schools built prior to 1998. A year ago, we tested those schools that were built after 1998. We’ve tested 1000s of water outlets throughout our school district”, said Doremus. “But what we’re seeing are typically issues with a particular fixture or faucet or, something like that, not a water supply problem at all. So that routine testing is just to make sure that we’re keeping our students and our staff safe in our schools.”

Each of these 12 water outlets were immediately removed from use and retesting will be performed as soon as possible. The 12 outlets are located at 11 facilities. There are no concerns with the overall quality or safety of drinking water at any of the tested facilities.