Marin school addresses lead contamination in drinking water

A Tiburon elementary school has capped classroom drinking fountains and fixed common area water fixtures and pipes after testing showed possibly dangerous levels of lead.

Nancy Lynch, superintendent of Reed Union School District, said officials also will be installing three filtered hydration stations with a drinking fountain and water bottle filler on each of the district’s three campuses. The new stations cost $1,290 each, Lynch said.

“We are going above and beyond what is recommended by Marin Municipal Water District just to make sure we have done everything and more to look after the health and safety of our students and staff,” Lynch said.

Lynch said by capping off the classroom water fixtures, it reduces the number of locations the district will conduct annual water testing.

“Students can get drinks and fill water bottles at the common area fountains and hydration stations,” she said.

The routine water testing at Bel Aire Elementary School was conducted in August. Results showed several variances, raising red flags of a possible false reading. Out of an abundance of caution, all drinking fountains and sinks in Bel Aire classrooms were turned off before students returned from summer break. During the interim, school officials provided students with bottled water, Lynch said.

Marin Municipal Water District followed up with a second test last month. A classroom that initially tested positive for lead returned negative after the follow up. Three water fountains, however, had lead measured near 15 parts per billion,  Lynch said.

Reed and Del Mar schools were also tested over the summer, but no contaminants were found in water on those campuses.

At Bel Aire, a drinking fountain inside a classroom had toxic metals measured at 14.7 parts per billion, a hallway fountain measured 17.4 parts per billion and a fountain at a play field measured 12.3 parts per billion, according to Marin Municipal Water District.

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that water taps at schools containing toxic metals that measure 15 parts per billion or greater must be taken out of commission until they are fixed or replaced. Two of the fountains were just below that threshold, but Lynch said it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Jeanne Mariani-Belding, spokeswoman for MMWD, said no other schools were tested in August or September.

“There are no issues with lead in the district’s water supply, or its delivery system, and the issue was with the school’s plumbing or fountain fixtures,” Mariani-Belding said in an email.

Ken Lippi, Marin’s assistant superintendent of schools, said Marin County Office of Education staffers are unaware of any other schools that have recently tested positive for lead.

“This was an issue that came up and was dealt with very well,” Lippi said.

Dr. Matt Willis, the county health officer, said the risk of lead poisoning in these circumstances is low. Factors to consider include the levels of lead in the water from the fountains and the amount of water consumed by each child at the fountains.

Nonetheless, the district made the right move, Willis said.

“Although water can be a source of lead, it has not been a factor in contributing to lead-burdened children in Marin County,” he said.

“The most common source of lead exposure and lead poisoning is lead-based paint and its dust,” he said. “Additionally, lead exposures are most dangerous when the human body is rapidly growing.”

The most sensitive populations are pregnant women, bottle-fed babies and children under the age of 6, he said.

Willis encourages concerned parents to speak with their pediatrician to discuss their child’s potential lead exposure and recommendations for blood-lead level testing.

Reed Union last tested its water in 2016. At that time, there were no levels of lead detected at any of the school district’s water taps. Lynch said the district will plan annual tests going forward.

The new hydration stations are expected to be installed at Bel Aire within the next two weeks. Hydration stations at Reed and Del Mar will be installed over the Thanksgiving or winter break, Lynch said.