by Brittany Seemuth, originally posted on November 29, 2016

Village of Menomonee Falls – The coliform bacteria and copper contamination are still present in the water supply of two Menomonee Falls School District elementary schools.

The district’s theory is the coliform on the third floor drinking fountain at Valley View Elementary School is coming from an underground reservoir that is adjacent to the school. For now, the reservoir, which is part of the municipal water supply, has been isolated from the water system, but can be turned back on in the event of a fire, according to Keith Brightman.

“The village continues to flush and chlorinate the system (at Valley View),” Brightman said. “It’s still an ongoing issue in that it’s been resolved in all areas of the school except for some of the third floor drinking fountains, so until we have two consecutive tests back in those areas that come back with no presence of the coliform bacteria, we can’t consider the matter closed. With all the flushing and additional water pressure in the building, that’s probably what’s keeping the problem in the system right now, so as we continue to flush those drinking fountains, it should resolve itself. We’re hoping even in the next few days to get consecutive, positive results, so we can close that case.”

The village tested the water line in areas near the school, and did not find evidence of coliform elsewhere. The district said this was an isolated incident.

Results from confirmation testing of the copper in Ben Franklin Elementary School’s water came back negative on Monday, Nov. 28, but two other classrooms in the 4K wing came back positive.

Brightman said the theory as to where the copper is coming from stems back to plumbing that was redone approximately eight years ago.

“They redid the plumbing and and replaced it with copper piping, and there’s a potential when you have copper piping butting up with the galvanized piping, you can have a reaction with the copper and it starts to enter the drinking water supply,” Brightman said. “We’ll do more forensic plumbing to determine whether that’s the case. Another source could be that at some point there was some electrical grounding done to the piping within the walls.”

In both contamination cases, the district contacted the DNR and Waukesha County Health Services when the positive results were received to ensure proper protocol was being followed.

During the Monday, Nov. 28, school board meeting when this issue was discussed, board members reiterated multiple times that the testing was done electively by the district, and that an alternative water source did not need to be provided to staff or students. Water is being provided to students and staff who may be affected by the contamination as a precaution.

“Just again, for the members of the public, we just wanted to clarify that none of this testing was required,” said Superintendent Pat Greco. “We actually did it in addition to the mandated testing to make sure all the facilities were safe. I want to thank Keith (Brightman) and the facilities team, plus Megan (Sheridan) with the communication and all of the principals.”

The district contacted all parents in the district after both contamination cases were confirmed via email within a couple hours of receiving the information.

Greco urged parents to make sure they are opted in to the district’s email communication; otherwise, even emergency messages would not be sent to them.

“When parents opt out of the email communication, it will opt them out of the direct emails,” Greco said. “Once they’re out of the system, they’re out.”