The Penfield School District is one of the latest local districts to take a closer look at lead levels in some of their water fixtures.
The problems in Flint,Michigan have spurred a heightened awareness of lead in water, and in Penfield, they tested water fountains and fixtures in all six buildings.
They have just received test results from one of those buildings, the Cobbles Elementary School and District Superintendent Thomas Putnam says about 9 of the 38 fountains tested showed levels of lead that were a little above federal guidelines.
“Sort of slight elevations over what the EPA recommends. That being said, we air on the side of any caution and so we’ve taken those devices offline until we can follow EPA guidelines and re-test and then determine what the next steps should be.”
Several other local school districts have also been testing their water for lead. But Putnam and some of the other school officials note that state and local health officials do not think that school drinking water is a significant source of lead.
“Our understanding with working with the organizations we’ve been in contact with is that there’s been no lead poisoning case in Monroe County that comes from water sources. So in terms of a concern it is a low level concern but one that we still take seriously,” Putnam told WXXI News.
He says test results from other Penfield buildings should be available soon.
