But Pinedale officials say a decision by the town’s mayor last year compromised the resource, allowing lead levels in the drinking water to spike in the local schools, prompting an Environmental Protection Agency mandate and igniting a battle of political wills.

It started in the summer of 2015, when Pinedale’s mayor, Bob Jones, decided to stop using sodium silicate to prevent lead and copper from leaching into the water and instead chose soda ash. The second product proved cheaper but ineffective.

For his part, Jones said it was a decision the public works department made as a collective.

The change violated federal drinking water regulations, but the EPA was only notified of the permanent alteration in August.

Shortly after, officials found lead in the schools, first from a faucet in an administrative office, then in the public high school and other district buildings.

The sodium silicate treatment has since been turned back on, and the EPA says the town’s water is back in compliance. If lead levels stay under control, the water will no longer pose a health risk.

But in the meantime, the schools are trying to figure out how to replace or repair their old pipes, students and staff are still drinking bottled water and the question of who is to blame is rocketing around the southwest Wyoming town.

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Many areas around the country have wrestled with the presence of lead in their drinking water, generally a consequence of lead pipes or lead-soldered joints in older buildings. But the glacial water that feeds into the faucets and bathtubs of Pinedale can exacerbate the problem.

The water is so pure, it tries to add to itself, explained Stephen Smith, the mayor who preceded Jones. Whether from lead and copper pipes or the enamel of a hot tub, untreated Pinedale water will draw minerals and contaminants from anything it touches, Smith said.

Since 1999, the town has used sodium silicate, an EPA-approved corrosion control substance, to mitigate the water’s inclination to suck potentially dangerous minerals into the water that comes out of the town’s taps. The chemical compound makes water less acidic and leaves behind a filmy buildup on the inside of pipes, preventing water contamination.

The town is free to reassess its corrosion control technique. But that would require a study on a new protocol’s effectiveness and approval from the EPA.

That didn’t happen over the last year, the EPA said in an October letter to the town of Pinedale.

The school district has identified the sources of the lead contamination, which appear to be soldering on pipes on a number of buildings of around the same age, said superintendent Jay Harnack. He intends to hire an environmental expert to guide the district through the mitigation process. As of now, the schools affected are prohibiting students and staff from drinking tap water, instead offering bottled water.

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Pinedale officials have turned the sodium silicate treatment back on, according to the EPA.

But 18 months later, the issue is not fully resolved, and recordings show meetings between the mayor and the council have been heated.

“You are pointing fingers at everybody below you. But the buck stops right there,” said former town councilman Tim Lingle at Monday’s council meeting. “When you start poisoning my child, who just had a lead test today, I sort of take it personally.”

The mayor has overstepped his role, said Ana Cuprill, Pinedale resident and wife of the former mayor.