Students at 100 Mile Elementary School are no longer able to drink from water taps and fountains after two water samples showed slightly elevated levels of lead, according to a joint news release from School District 27 and Interior Health on April 18.
“The 100 Mile House Municipal Water System is tested regularly and they do meet the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality, so it’s not a concern for the community at large,” said Juliana Gola, Health Protection Team Leader of Interior Health.
The school is now providing students with water bottles and preparing all food on location with bottled water effective immediately and have advised parents to provide students with filled water bottles of their own.
“The school is actually being extremely cautious by offering bottled water because flushing did show that it lowered those two water fountains that were tested that were marginally above the MAC (drinking water’s acceptable concentration), after a flush they were way below the max,” said Gola.
According to Gola, the two tests were also conducted after water was sitting overnight for roughly a 24 hour period and wasn’t very representative of what students would have been drinking during schools hours.
Signage has been put up around fountains and the water flow has been turned off. The school district will conduct additional testing. No other locations in the building have tested with levels above acceptable limits.
It is believed by SD27 and Interior Health that the source of lead is from building plumping materials, where the lead has dissolved into the water when the water has been sitting stagnant for long period of time in lead pipes and solder and/or brass or bronze taps.
Properties in tap water, such as low pH and low alkalinity can have an impact on lead dissolving.
The limit of the lead content of MAC is 0.010 mg/L (10 parts per billion). According to the release, the school tested marginally close to the limit but was unacceptable. They tested the same two locations again and the subsequent tests showed acceptable levels after the water was flushed through the building.
Since Sept. 26, 2017, schools in the province are required to test for lead content in drinking water. A school district must select one-third of its facilities a year for testing and must report the findings annually. This year, 100 Mile Elementary was selected.
This policy was introduced due to concern over the vulnerability of young children in regards to lead exposure. Impacts from lead exposure depend on factors such as frequency, duration and dosage to a variety of sources. Age, previous exposure history, nutrition and general health also come in to play according to Interior Health. They advised concerned parents to contact their physician to find out if a test was necessary for their child.
Interior Health is also collaborating with SD27 in monitoring the level of lead at all schools within the district and make sure they follow the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.
In December 2017, the Ministry of Education announced that three schools in SD27 would get upgrades to ensure healthy drinking water. The three schools were Lake City Secondary School Columneetza Campus, Mountview Elementary School and Naghtaneqed Elementary/Junior Secondary School. The total cost of those projects is $750,000.
We will add more details as they become available.
