[SCOTT WHEELER/THE LEDGER] All of Winston Academy of Engineering’s drinking and cooking water has been declared safe following three tests for lead contamination in the last month.
A letter sent from the Polk County School District to parents Wednesday shows the lead levels are no longer elevated.
“Dear families, Polk County Public Schools has announced the results of follow-up lead testing, which show that Winston Academy of Engineering no longer has elevated levels of lead present in its water supply,” the letter states.
“The school has been cleared to use regular water for drinking and cooking; bottled water will no longer be provided.” Rory Luce, the PCSD maintenance manager, has been dealing with very high levels coming from a sink faucet that sat unused in classroom 4 in building 7.
A second test taken last week showed it was still at 20 parts per billion.
The clear water samples came back at 7.7 parts per billion.
Letters also went home this week to the parents of students at Bartow Elementary Academy, and Shelley S. Boone Middle School and Daniel Jenkins Academy in Haines City, notifying them that lead testing was being done on “fixtures in the kitchen, as well as water fountains and all other drinking sources” at those schools Thursday.
“The bagged fixtures will be left undisturbed until the morning of Thursday, Sept. 20, when maintenance personnel will collect water samples for testing.
After samples are collected, the bags will be removed and the fixtures will be put back in service until lab results have been completed.” The letters further state that any fixtures where water samples show elevated levels of lead will be taken out of service until repairs have been completed and subsequent testing shows those repairs were effective.
The district began voluntarily testing for lead contamination in drinking and cooking water in August after Hillsborough County found lead in some of its schools’ drinking water over the summer.