School Turns Taps Off; Lead in Water

Drinking fountains and faucets have been turned off at Hermosa Valley School after tests showed lead in the water, officials at the Hermosa Beach school said Thursday.

The lead is believed to have leaked from solder used in the school’s copper pipes, said Principal Shalee Cunningham, who also is superintendent of the one-school Hermosa Beach City School District. Officials are talking with the contractor who used the solder to determine what to do.

Students and teachers have been drinking bottled water since the discovery during the first week of September. The school has an enrollment of 646 in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Danger for Children

Lead at elevated levels can impair mental functions in children and can result in progressive kidney disease in adults. The danger of lead poisoning is greater for children, partly because their bodies absorb it faster than adults, health officials said.

The amount of lead found in the water ranged from 20 parts per billion to 300 p.p.b., Cunningham said. The federal standard is 50 p.p.b.

“We found levels a little higher than the recommended standards,” said Walt Delsigne, district manager for California Water Co., which provides water for the city. “It is not something that is really alarming.”

Tests taken in and around the school have shown that the water entering the school’s plumbing has an acceptable lead level, Delsigne said. “The water we provide to the area is lead-free,” he said.

Carol Ward, an epidemiology analyst of the county Health Services Department, said the lead found in the water posed a “minimal risk to children or adults.”

Ward said that even if a child drank from the same faucet every morning for several days, the child would not absorb enough lead to cause long-term physical harm.

Hermosa Beach City Manager Kevin B. Northcraft said the city is testing public drinking faucets, including the heavily used fountains on The Strand, for high lead levels.

Nine months ago, a federal report raised concern about lead levels in refrigerated fountains. The report was later found to be misleading. Cunningham said Hermosa Valley School has no refrigerated drinking fountains, but testing after the report was issued led to the discovery of lead in the school’s water.

Extensive Construction

The copper pipes were installed two years ago when extensive construction was done at Hermosa Valley School, Cunningham said. Lead solder, which has since been prohibited, was used throughout the plumbing. “We know it’s the pipes,” she said.

Although the levels of lead found were “minimal,” Cunningham said “any level of lead is dangerous.”

She said officials at the California Water Service told her that children can still drink the water if they let it run for a few minutes first.

Cunningham decided not to take any chances and shut off the water while further tests take place and talks with the contractor continue.