The local school boards say they have had no illnesses due to high lead levels found in the drinking water at schools.
The Lambton Kent District School Board and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board both said they are in compliance with provincial standards for drinking water testing after a massive national water study discovered high lead content across the country.
The public school board had 10 schools this year that exceeded the maximum allowable concentration of lead and had to be reported to the Ministry of Environment, and local public health officials for corrective action. Signs were also posted and communication provided to students and staff about any drinking water fixture taken out-of-service until the issue was resolved. Corrective action could include re-sampling and increasing frequency of flushing; installing a lead reducing filter; replacing a fixture; or permanently rendering a fixture unusable.
Director of Education John Howitt said the health and safety of students, staff, and visitors in public schools is a top priority.
"We test regularly to make sure whatever intervention we put into place is delivering safe drinking water," said Howitt.
Howitt said depending on the test results, the school's waterlines are flushed either weekly or daily when the school or daycare is open.
"Sometimes it's the plumbing within the fixture itself, sometimes it's the plumbing within the school, sometimes it's the plumbing leading to, and sometimes it might be coming from other areas that we never are able to identify," he added.
Howitt said the school board worked with local public health officials on corrective actions for these locations that included additional flushing or re-sampling.
"If a fixture does come across with higher levels than are normal, then we test more frequently until it's clear and we test beyond that to make sure it stays clear," Howitt said.
Effective July 1, 2017, the Ontario government has required samples to be collected and tested for lead content at every drinking water fountain and every tap that is used in the preparation of food or drink or to provide drinking water for consumption by children under 18 years of age. School boards are required to implement these regulations by 2020 in elementary schools and 2022 in secondary schools. Prior to July 2017, the regulation required school boards to sample and test water for lead annually at only one location in the building.
Four Catholic schools had lead exceedances and Director of Education Deb Crawford said the board continues following provincial regulations.
"At all four of these schools this protocol was followed," she said. "The water fixtures in question were replaced and flushing was increased to daily frequency."
The Catholic board said only three additional lead exceedances have happened since 2017.
