Drinking water in area schools is safe

Re: Lead in schools’ water sparks ire, by Doug Schmidt, Windsor Star, Oct. 12.

In the summer of 2017, we tested 220 water fountains at 44 schools and the vast majority of the drinking water in our schools falls within Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change guidelines, meaning that lead levels fall below the threshold of 10 parts per billion of lead content.

Seven water fountains exceeded that threshold, and all of those fountains were retested prior to the beginning of the school year. Only two fountains — one at Sacred Heart, the other at St. Angela — remained over the acceptable limit, and have since been decommissioned and bagged, which means that no one is allowed to drink from them.

The article gives the false impression that all of the fountains were shut down. They were not. These numbers do not represent the overall quality of the drinking water in the school. They only represent the findings collected at one of many fountains that were sampled in that school.

The story quotes a parent from St. Andre school who says the water at the school is not safe.

That is completely false. Samples collected from four fountains at that school in the summer of 2017 contain levels well below the ministry’s threshold.

All of the information about water testing is kept in binders in school offices and is available for anyone who wants to see them.

We are extremely disappointed in the manner in which this information was reported. Articles such as these create a false sense of alarm, and needlessly undermine faith in our institutions by creating an impression that administrative officials knowingly mislead the public.

The health and safety of our students, our staff, and the members of the community who use our schools is of utmost importance and we would never knowingly expose them to drinking water that fails to meet the specifications by which we are governed. Stephen Fields, communications co-ordinator, Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, Windsor