A hand-washing sink in the cafeteria and a sink in the office of Superintendent Sharon Clifford tested respectively at 0.023 and 0.032 milligrams of lead per liter of water (mg/L) in samples taken earlier this month.

The drinking water standard for lead is 0.015 milligrams per liter. A lead concentration of 0.002 mg/L, slightly higher than the lowest concentration the laboratory can detect, was measured in a sample from a first floor drinking fountain in the high school.

This was the second set of samples collected this fall that indicated the presence of lead in school water. Samples collected in September measured 0.078 mg/L in the cafeteria and 0.009 mg/L in the superintendent's sink.

The school is following response and mitigation instructions from Suffolk County Health Department officials, who did not return Reporter inquiries this week due to short-staffing of their office and the Tuesday holiday.

The Environmental Protection Agency protocol for lead requires that small schools with no prior lead problems collect five water samples every three years. In addition to the two sinks and the lower level water fountain, the elementary wing water fountain and the nurse's office water supply were tested and measured no lead at a detection limit of 0.001 mg/L.

School nurse Mary Kanarvogel explained how the school is addressing  the presence of lead in the water system and emphasized that “it's not in any water the kids drink.”

Lead has not been detected in samples taken directly from the school's well so the source of lead is probably piping, Ms. Kanarvogel explained and school water system operator John Hallman confirmed. He said that much of the piping at the school is “pretty old.” Lead is a component of older pipes and the solder used to join them; all new plumbing materials in public buildings have been required to meet EPA “lead-free” criteria since 1986.

In order to reduce lead levels and any potential for exposure to students, Mr. Hallman is adjusting the pH of the water, which is run through a soda ash treatment system installed at the school in 1993.

Like all Long Island groundwater, the school's water is acidic, Mr. Hallman said. He has brought the water's pH level up from 6.4 to 7.8 and may raise it higher; the Health Department recommends a pH of 8.0 to 8.5.

All school taps are being run each morning to flush standing water out of pipes, a procedure that will be followed until lead levels are reduced. A total of 10 samples — five from the fixtures already tested and five others — will be collected for analysis over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The school is also “repairing and replacing plumbing components as necessary,” Superintendent Clifford wrote in a letter mailed to parents last Friday. School Business Official Sam Schneider said that the faucets of the suspect sinks will be replaced with American-made fixtures. Lead may be present in foreign-made faucets.

Plumbing changes made earlier this year are also being inspected. A new boiler and water heater were added to the school's water system since last spring. According to Mr. Schneider, the grounding on those new systems has been checked and “no amp problems” were found.

Grounding of motors in contact with pipes can contribute to water quality problems. Without proper grounding, an electrical charge can be carried along pipes, exacerbating chemical reactions that dissolve metals into water, Mr. Hallman explained. “It is rare,” he added, but does happen.

And something has happened in the last three years to cause these results, Mr. Hallman said. His records, which date back to the beginning of monitoring in 1993, show that “we've never had a problem with lead at all,” other than a trace amount, but never a sample in excess of the national standard.

“Now that we have discovered lead, we will be testing every six months until further notice,” Mr. Schneider said.

Mr. Hallman described the sampling protocol at the school. Chief of Maintenance Jim Rogers collected “first draw” samples after water had sat in pipes overnight. Mr. Hallman submitted the samples to the laboratory for analysis. He sent the lab results to the school and to the Health Department. In Ms. Clifford's letter to parents, she described “first draw” sampling as testing on “a worst case scenario basis.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency's lead reference guide for schools, children are especially susceptible to lead exposure because their bodies absorb metals at higher rates than the average adult. Childhood exposure to low levels of lead can cause low IQ, hearing impairment, reduced attention span and poor classroom performance. The EPA guidance for schools is focused on lead exposure through drinking water sources, not through contact with water during hand-washing.

When lead is detected above the EPA action level, the federal rules require schools to respond through public education, monitoring of water quality parameters (such as pH and conductivity), source water monitoring and treatment, and corrosion control treatment.

Nurse Kanarvogel put this perspective on the issue: “If there was any chance of exposure to children, the Department of Health would have shut us down.”

“The health and safety of our students are the highest priority of the district,” Ms. Clifford wrote to parents. “With remediation and careful testing, this situation will be resolved.”

Tips for lead-free water

School Business Official Sam Schneider encouraged the Reporter to pass on this EPA tip to reduce risks of exposure to lead in any water supply: Flush your system. Let the water run from the tap before using it for drinking or cooking anytime the faucet has gone unused for more than six hours. Run the cold water for 15 to 30 seconds.

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