According to ABC News, Newark, New Jersey, is about to test up to 17,000 children for lead poisoning because elevated levels of lead were found in drinking water there. Apparently,around half of the schools in New Jersey’s biggest city failed their lead tests. The district plans to start with the toddlers in its early childhood centers. Those lead levels are much lower than the ones that afflicted Flint, Michigan, but lead percentages are still above approved levels.
Governor Chris Christie is doing damage control. He claims the elevated lead levels are no crisis, but Newark schools will be testing students to make sure that the lead does not become a crisis. Of course, he does not actually have real data yet. He will not have that data until those 17,000 students are tested. His administration claims that it is “unclear” how long the children of Newark have been exposed, but I would like to make an observation. The lead crisis in Flint happened because the city changed its water supply. Newark has not changed its water supply. That suggests those elevated lead levels may have been streaming out of school water fountains for years.
Seattle had a lead crisis in its water fountains a few years ago. I don’t know if my former district has a lead problem or not. I know the water from bathroom faucets sometimes came out orange. I almost never drank the school water in my last district and I advised the kids to stay away from it too. I had no data to suggest lead was in the water. But I had no reason to believe the district had ever checked for lead or any other problematic substances, either.
Many of our school districts are old. Much of our piping is old and sometimes even ancient by modern standards. Do you work in one of these old buildings? If you do, do yourself a favor. Get a personal water bottle and fill it daily at home before work. Stop by Walmart or Costco and pick up a case of water for your trunk for those days when you use up your water or forget your own bottle. I hate to fill the landfills with those empty pieces of plastic, but I have enough trouble finding my car keys now. A few years drinking that oddly orange water, even filtered through the water fountain, and who knows if I would even know what the keys were for?
Finding lead no doubt proves hugely expensive for the districts that run up against the problem. I can see where a district might decide to postpone that water evaluation until “next year.” And next year, and next year, and next year.
Eduhonesty: I would not trust the plumbing in many of our older schools. Those schools often run hot in warmer weather, too. Some do not have air conditioning. Students and teachers drink water regularly. On some days, my water has names like Nestle, Dasani and Aquafina, etc. I recommend readers pick up some of those waters. If your school water comes in funny colors, I would definitely tell the kids to bring their own water bottles from home, too.
