Report: 6.75 percent of district water fixtures detected excessive lead in both samples
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — The vast majority of water sources in Three Rivers Community Schools meet state safety standards, according to a new report, while less than 7 percent of them will need to be replaced.
At Monday’s TRCS Board of Education meeting, Facilities Director Brian Leonard presented the district’s Drinking Water Quality report, an effort undertaken on a volunteer basis by the district thanks in part to a federal grant program that supports voluntary testing, analysis and mitigation, and the state’s new Filter First legislation that requires proactive installation of filtered water stations in educational settings.
Out of the 118 consumable water fixtures between each school building in the district that had samples collected on March 28, 16 of them (13.5 percent) detected the presence of lead above the school action level of 5 parts per billion (ppb), with eight of those (6.75 percent overall) detecting lead after both samples.
Leonard said seven of those eight fixtures that had detected excessive lead after both samples were shut off and removed from service immediately upon receiving test results on April 17, while the remaining fixture, a faucet in a second-floor room at the Barrows Education Center, was only used for hand washing and not removed, according to a summary presented to school board members. The remaining fixtures that had detected lead in just one of two samples required flushing as a corrective action, and were not removed from service.
In total, Three Rivers High School had six fixtures out of 50 test above the action level for lead on at least one test, Three Rivers Middle School had three out of 15, Andrews Elementary and Hoppin Elementary had one out of eleven each, Norton Elementary had one out of nine, Park Elementary had none out of 14, and Barrows Education Center had four out of eight.
Where excessive lead was detected in Three Rivers schools
| SCHOOL | FIXTURES TESTED | FIXTURES WITH LEAD >5 PPB | FIXTURES >5 PPB REMOVED | FIXTURES >5 PPB FLUSHED |
| Three Rivers HS | 50 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Three Rivers MS | 15 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Andrews El. | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Hoppin El. | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Park El. | 14 | 0 | – | – |
| Norton El. | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Barrows Education Center | 8 | 4* | 3 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 118 | 16 | 8 | 7 |
PPB: Parts Per Billion
*One fixture at Barrows was a hand-wash-only fixture, and was neither removed nor flushed.
The full results of the tests can be found at trschools.org/District/7615-Drinking-Water-Quality-Notification.html.
“The majority of our school systems and testing areas came back really well,” Leonard said. “This is what we kind of expected, we expected we would have some that [test above action level], predominantly because the water sits sometimes in the piping for longer than normal.”
Per testing requirements, Leonard said all buildings were secured the night prior to the testing for more than eight hours, with no one allowed in the building that night or the day of the test, when state testers came into the buildings. Two draw samples were collected from each unit, which were then sent off to the state lab for testing.
With Barrows in particular, Leonard said in an interview after the meeting he expected them to have higher readings, given the age of the building’s equipment and the infrequent use of its water sources.
“There are still 40- and 50-year-old units that are still sitting in there,” Leonard said. “We’ve updated things in other schools, and Barrows hasn’t received some of the benefit of those updated periods and times, and because of that, there’s very dated pipe and very dated equipment. It still operates, but the way they made things at that time versus the way they’re made now are considerably different, so you anticipate some of that residual.”
During his presentation, Leonard said units that are taken out of service are anticipated to be replaced with new state-approved filtered units.
“We’ve already identified what units we’re putting in, we’ve already had it validated by the state of Michigan,” Leonard said. “The next step is getting things lined up for construction and installation.”
Currently, Leonard said, all schools have at least one or two filtered water stations.
Testing on the water fixtures is expected to be done on an annual basis. Leonard said in the meantime, the district is planning on reducing the number of water fixtures between each of the schools, removing some they deem not necessary for operation.
In all, Leonard said after the meeting that through the measures undertaken by the school because of the testing, the water in Three Rivers schools is still “absolutely” safe to drink. Board of Education President Erin Nowak thanked Leonard for his department’s “proactive” measures.
“Some other districts aren’t taking care of the problem until after high levels are anticipated, so we’re happy to hear you guys volunteered for this program for the students,” Nowak said.
Leonard said those with more questions on the water quality test results can contact the Facilities Department of the district at (269) 279-1119.
In other business…
- The board approved a bid for athletics sitework as part of the district’s bond project, for a total construction cost of $1,101,961. This includes $537,500 for sitework, being done by James E. Fulton and Sons of Kalamazoo, and $492,370 to Brussee/Brady for general trades, plus a 7 percent contingency.
- The board adopted several policy updates following a second reading.
- The board held a closed session for student discipline, which resulted in a student being expelled for 180 days.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
