School trustees voted on Monday to hire an engineering firm to hopefully solve Rossland schools’ water woes once and for all.
For over two years, elevated lead levels have been found in the water at both Maclean Elementary and Rossland Secondary School. Repeated testing has been done to determine what is causing the elevated levels, as municipal water sources are safe, but district staff haven’t found the answer yet.
“It’s not perfectly straightforward otherwise I think we would’ve solved it by now,” assistant director of operations Heather Simm told the board Monday night.
Simm estimates the cost to hire Stantec Engineering to complete the assessment will be $7,000.
Another option, Simm noted, is to install water kiosks complete with filtration systems in each school, at a cost of $7,000 per kiosk.
“At UBC Okanagan they’ve been getting quite a bit of press,” Simm said. “They look almost like a vending machine but it’s a filling station. You have to have your own bottle.”
She noted the kiosks wouldn’t completely solve the issues, as other water sources, such as classroom sinks, would still be contaminated.
This option has been forwarded to the finance and facilities committee for consideration.
Last month, a plumber ran the tap for five minutes and tested it immediately after. Results came back fine, but after testing it an hour and a half later, the lead levels were back up above Health Canada guidelines.
/ Story by Kim Magi