After discovering last year that lead levels in school water fountains were higher than the EPA’s standard, Montgomery County is looking forward for a solution for students and staff.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets a limit of 15 parts per billion (ppb) of lead in drinking water. Parts per billion is a way of measuring concentrations of substances and shows the number of units of a substance in 1,000 million milligrams of water or other substrate.
A 2018 study of school water fountains’ lead content found that 86 of Montgomery County’s 208 public schools had elevated lead levels. Some fountains contained as much as 100 ppb of lead, well above the EPA standard.
MCPS payed $540,000 to test fountain water quality and $150,000 to fix 97 percent of schools’ fountains, a price that many say is too high. Some students disagree, however.
“I think it’s definitely worth the cost,” said Olga Drozdovitch, senior at Walter Johnson High School. “I don’t drink from the school fountains, but I know how many people do and I’ve seen the lines and how long they are. It would be terrible for someone who’s still developing to get lead poisoning. It’s such a 20th century problem.”
Lead exposure can cause developmental delays and learning difficulties, as well as fatigue, irritability, and seizures, all of which are particularly dangerous for children and teenagers. Lead paint and water pipes are the most common sources, though lead can also be found in soil, household dust, and the glaze of some pottery.
District 5 county council member Tom Hucker sponsored a bill on February 5th that would limit acceptable lead levels in Montgomery County to 5 parts per billion. A public hearing on this bill has been tentatively scheduled for February 26 and 1:30 pm.
Article by MoCo Student staff writer Shannon Engel of Walter Johnson High School