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SUNDAY

THE VGICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER

High lead

level

found |B

in school’s
tap water

A RECENT North Shore Health Department (NSHD) test
has found lead levels in the drinking water of a North Van-
couver clementary school 33 times over federal drinking

water quality standards.

But NSHD chief public health
inspector Bill Kimraett said sam-
ples for the test were taken from
an infrequently used kitchen tap in
the school, and high copper ard
lead readings dropped to safe
levels relatively soon after water
was allowed to flush through the
system.

Children in the North Shore's
school system, he said, ‘tare not
ingesting high levels of lead from
drinking water."’

Test results from the first draw
of water taken from the tap show-
ed copper levels at 5.68 parts per
million (ppm) and lead levels at
1,670 parts per billion (ppb).

Canadian and provincial drink-
ing water quality standards limit
copper levels in water to 1 ppm
and lead to 50 ppb.

Water from the Greater Vun-
couver Regional District’s
Capilano and Seymour reservoirs,
which is almost pure rainwater and
snow melt, is naturally highly
acidic and consequently corrosive
to plumbing.

Copper from copper plumbing
pipes and lead from lead solder
used to join those pipes therefore
leaches into drinking water when it
sits in pipes overnight or longer.

While he declined to release the
name of the school tested, Kim-
mett said water samples were taken
as part of an investigation into a
case of suspected food poisoning
of one of the school’s students.

The student had become ill after
consuming reconstituted orange
juice mixed with water from the
tap.

Kimmett emphasized that the
tap was seldom used and water in
the pipes had been left to sit for at
least two weeks, and pipes were
not flushed prior to the water’s be-
ing mixed with the orange juice.

As a result of the high lead
readings, the NSHD has sent a

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW
News Reporter

report to both North Shore school
districts outlining the tests results.
The r“port also recommends
school kitchen taps that do not get
regular use should be run for two
minutes prior to use, and signs ad-
vising the procedure be placed in
the area; custodians purge drinking
fountains in the morning; and
lead-free solider be used in future
plumbing work.

Lead is a cumulative poison that
is dang‘-rous to the human system
and can be especially harmful to
children if ingested over long
periods.

A recent national comparison of
school drinking water showed
some schools in the Greater Yan-
couver area with lead levels in
drinking water up to four times the
national standard. The high levels
were also found in the first morn-
ing draws of water taken from
drinking fountains.

Kimmett said water is a rela-
tively small source of the total lead
ingested by people. Other sources
include leaded gasoline and even
the food we eat.

While a feasibility study for
testing other North Shore schools
is underway, Kimmett said, the
health department is assuming that
figures found in their initial test
would be consistent throughout the
North Shore school system.

He added that lead in water was
not a problem confined to schools
and all residents should flush
drinking water taps prior to their
first use in the mornings.

“Everybody should be aware
that they could have the same pro-
blem in their homes,’’ he said.

For more information call the
NSHD at 988-5231.

Bears add cheer

PAT ORR isn’t hoping for a grizzly Christmas. Seen here covered in 50 teddy bears,
Orr, chairman of the North Vancouver charity the Christmas Bureau, together with
the West Vanccuver Santa Claus Fund is counting on a surge in foed and toy donations
to the charity this year to help needy families. To make Christmas special for local needy
chiidren, these 50 teddy bears were donated to the
Bureau's toy store by the North Shore News on behalf
of major advertisers. By appointment, low-income
families can shop at the toy store for their children. See
story page 3.