Multiple PSD schools shut off water fixtures after state-mandated lead testing

Some water fixtures at four Poudre School District schools have been turned off to prevent their use as state-mandated testing for high levels of lead gets underway.

Samples from 11 classroom sink faucets, five drinking fountains and a sink faucet in the nurse’s office at Polaris Expeditionary School were found by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to have more than 5 parts per billion of lead, requiring that action be taken to reduce those levels under a state law that took effect Jan. 1.

Five water fixtures at Putnam Elementary School, three at Irish and two at Bennett were also shut off because of high concentrations of lead, according to results posted as of 2 p.m. Thursday on the state health department’s Water Quality Control website.

Test results had been posted for 63 fixtures at Polaris, 80 at Putnam, 69 at Bennett and 66 at Irish. Results of samples from other PSD elementary schools that had been sent to the state for testing were not yet available.

No test results had been reported from Thompson or Windsor-Severance district schools.

All child care facilities and public schools in Colorado serving children from preschool through eighth grade are required to test for lead under the law signed in June by Gov. Jared Polis. Licensed child care providers and all public preschools and elementary schools must submit samples from all fixtures providing water for drinking or food preparation to the state health department for testing by May 31. Public schools serving students in grades 6-8 have until Nov. 30, 2024, to provide samples for testing.

Employees in PSD’s operations department are collecting the samples and forwarding them to the state health department, following strict state protocols, according to a district spokesperson.

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The school district receives results of the testing through the website the same way the public does, PSD chief information officer Madeline Noblett said.

“The quality of our drinking water is something we all care about,” she said. “Like other school districts across the state, PSD is committed to complying with the law, participating in the state’s program, addressing fixtures identified by the state as needing remediation, and being as transparent as possible about the process.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets the actionable level for lead in drinking water at 15 parts per billion, three times what the new Colorado law permits. There is no “safe level” of lead in a child’s bloodstream, according to the EPA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so anything that can be done to reduce exposure is beneficial, the EPA notes on its website.

Once a fixture at a PSD school has been identified as having levels of lead above the 5-parts-per-billion threshold, the district sends a plumber out to shut off that water and signs are posted around it in English, Spanish and Arabic, noting that it should not be used.

“We will take a look at the impacted school and determine whether there are other accessible drinking options and then address that however we need based on the unique circumstances of the school,” Noblett said.

An email is sent to staff and students’ families at each school explaining which fixtures exceeded the threshold and what steps are being taken to address the issue, Noblett said. And the city of Fort Collins utilities department, which provides water for most district schools, and Larimer County Department of Health and Environment are notified.

New samples from all fixtures that tested above the threshold will be taken within the next 90 days and submitted to the state health department to help determine what action should be taken to reduce the levels of lead in the water that comes out of them, Noblett said.

“After the re-test, we can determine what the long-term remediation needs to happen in accordance with the law,” Noblett said. “So, remediation will vary site by site, location by location. But it could be a replacement of a fixture, installation of some sort of filter or filtration system, it could be replacing a pipe or portion of pipes in a designated area.

“Those really are the three primary ones we look at but, in partnership with the state and our operations teams, there may be other things that need to be done.”

The district shared additional information about the law and testing procedures on its website Wednesday.

PSD’s public charter schools are responsible for collecting and submitting their own samples to the state prior to the deadlines, she said.

A handful of preschools, day care centers and in-home day care providers in Larimer County have also been forced to shut off water fixtures that tested above the state threshold, according to the Water Quality Control website.

PSD plans to expand its testing beyond the state requirements, Noblett said, by also testing for lead in water fixtures at its high schools and various district office sites. That testing will be done by a private lab, certified by the state health department, she said.

The district also plans to test water fixtures at all of its schools for copper through a private lab certified by the state.

High levels of copper were found in December and January at the new Wellington Middle-High School and Rice Elementary, also in Wellington. Bottled water is now being used for drinking and filters have been installed on faucets used for food preparation at those schools until the source of the copper contamination can be located and removed, Noblett said.

Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, twitter.com/KellyLyell or facebook.com/KellyLyell.news. 

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: PSD schools shut off water fixtures after state-mandated lead testing