After test results evaluating all water sources, from sinks to fountains, for 16 schools showed higher-than-acceptable levels of the chemicals last month, the Detroit public schools community district announced it was turning off the water at all its schools.
The latest results come on the heels of previous tests from 2016 and spring 2018 that revealed elevated copper and lead levels, bringing the total number of schools with water quality issues to 34 out of the 106 Detroit currently operates.
That doesn’t make sense for ensuring the safety of children.” The shutdown of water fountains doesn’t apply to charter schools, but Detroit’s mayor, Mike Duggan, intends to initiate “the same level” of water quality testing at those schools, Vitti said.
Flint water crisis: Michigan’s top health official to face trial over deaths Read more Water testing in schools is currently not required by federal law or Michigan state law.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers, the local arm of the American Federation of Teachers union, supported the superintendent’s decision.
Older drinking water fountains are “a known source of lead exposure”, said Stuart Batterman, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.
Detroit public schools have suffered from years of underfunding.
Vitti said: “The infrastructure of the public school system has been neglected, and this is an example of it.
“After 10 years of emergency management, there is a lot of work to be done, across, let’s say, 90% of our school buildings to get ceiling tiles, basic heating and cooling,” she said.
“This is not a new problem,” said Batterman, adding that it had been a known issue since the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule, which requires public water suppliers to monitor drinking water for lead.