A second round of testing found high levels of lead in more water fixtures at Colfax Upper Elementary School in Springdale, the Allegheny Valley School District announced Wednesday.
Unacceptable lead levels were found in 13 of 104 samples taken from 51 fixtures in the school, such as water fountains and classroom and kitchen sinks. The samples were taken on Saturday.
The additional testing was ordered after high lead levels had been detected in one classroom sink in testing done about two weeks ago.
Superintendent Pat Graczyk said the high levels were found in the first draws of water from the fixtures. Lead levels in all second draws were lower and under the EPA's acceptable limit for school drinking water, which is 20 parts per billion, he said.
Samples were as high as 205 parts per billion, found in a classroom sink. But in the second draw from the same sink, the level plunged to just 6.36 parts per billion.
Except for toilets and bathroom sinks for handwashing, no water has been used from the building's fixtures since the results of the first test came in a week ago. The school has been using bottled water.
The 13 fixtures with higher than acceptable lead levels consist of 12 classroom sinks and one water fountain. All of those will be taken out of commission.
“Our plan is to keep the 12 sinks shut off and dismantle the water fountain,” Graczyk said.
The district will lift all other water restrictions in the school on Friday, he said.
“If we correct the sinks and the water fountain, all of the other water is safe to drink,” he said.
Because the lead levels in second draws from affected fixtures were lower than the first, Graczyk said it's believed lead is getting into the water after sitting in the school's older fixtures.
Springdale Councilman David Spirk said the borough knows of no lead issues with the water being delivered by the borough's treatment plant. The problem is believed to be internal to the school.
The borough also took its own water samples from the school on Saturday. No information on the results of those tests was available.
While it's been recommended that the district replace the affected fixtures, the looming closure of the building may come into play.
The district expects to start construction this year on an expansion of Acmetonia Primary School in Harmar, with Colfax's fourth-through-sixth grade students moved there starting with the 2018-19 school year. Colfax is to be closed.
“Due to the Acme project, we'll take everything into consideration,” Graczyk said.
The district elected to have its schools tested in response to local and regional incidents of high levels of lead being found in drinking water.
“We wanted to make sure we knew what was going on in our building,” he said. “No one told us we had to do it. We care about our staff, we love our students, we want to make sure they're OK.”
Water also was tested at Acmetonia and Springdale Junior-Senior High School, with no problems found.
Colfax students whose parents don't want them consuming the school's water are allowed to bring water from home, Graczyk said. The school will stop providing bottled water beginning Friday.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4701 or at brittmeyer@tribweb.com.
