DETROIT – Drinking water lead and copper levels are now below the Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines at all 94 of the Detroit Public Schools Community District buildings.
When levels were tested last spring in all the buildings, 10 schools were not within the guidelines. ATC Group, an independent environmental consulting firm, took water samples from drinking fountains and sinks. The samples were sent to an independent lab.
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The Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation provided a grant of $135,000 to cover testing costs.
Seventy schools did not exceed the Michigan Department for Environmental Quality maximum containment level for the initial sampling, 14 exceeded the MCL for the initial and/or flush sampling and 10 schools had multiple results that exceeded the MCL for the initial and/or flush sampling.
After the testing, the district “created a collaborative plan to resolve outstanding issues to ensure the safety of our staff and students,” said Alycia Meriweather, interim superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
In the 14 schools, the district removed fixtures that exceeded levels and implemented a weekly flush plan for the schools’ water fixtures.
The district contracted DiHydro Services to install EPA approved water treatments in the 10 schools. The treatments cost $5,000 a month.
The corrosion control system forms a thin lining inside pipes that provides a barrier to keep lead, bacteria and copper from becoming part of the drinking water.
Breithaupt Vocational School, Bunche Elementary-Middle School, John R. King Performing Arts Academy, Moses Field, Thurgood Marshall Elementary Middle School, Thirkell Elementary Middle School, Edison Elementary School, Wayne Elementary-Middle School, Detroit Collegiate Prep High School and Dr. Ben Carson High School for Science and Medicine are the 10 schools that now have levels below the EPA guidelines after the implantation of water treatments.
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