Fort Worth school trustees OK purchase of water fountains

School trustees voted Tuesday night to authorize the money to buy 500 new water fountains to replace older fountains that were found to have elevated levels of lead.

The vote was 8-0 to ratify spending $234,353.62 for water fountains from Moore Supply Co. of Conroe.

The district has set aside a total of about $800,000 for the water fountain project.

“All of the elementary fountains have been replaced,” said Clint Bond, a district spokesman. “Our next goal was to work on high schools [because of athletics], and we are continuing to do that nights and weekends.

“Our final move will be to replace fountains in middle schools.”

Fountains that have not been replaced at high schools and middle schools have a board covering the water line hole. At all schools, students have access to some water fountains, Bond said.

Tests this summer found lead in a style of fountain that allows water to sit as it is chilled, which lets lead leach into and contaminate the water.

As of Aug. 18, the school district had collected 1,805 samples from 127 schools for testing by the Fort Worth Water Department. Of those samples, 128 registered lead levels higher than 15 parts per billion. The highest level was 88.9 ppb in one sample. About 500 drinking fountains were identified as problematic.

The district paid the city $1 per sample.

The Environmental Protection Agency places acceptable lead levels at 15 parts per billion. There are no local, state or federal rules that require schools to test drinking water.

Asked about the timeline for water fountain replacement, Bond said: “As quickly as we can get them shipped to us and our crews can install them. We are receiving about 25 per day in shipping.”

District officials have said they don’t believe any children were in any danger during the school year and believe lead levels rose during the summer when water sat and chilled in the fountains.

Other districts in Tarrant County are either testing water for lead or plan to conduct tests, including Arlington, Burleson, Castleberry, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Everman, Grapevine-Colleyville, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Mansfield, Northwest and White Settlement.

The Fort Worth district provides updates online on water samples tested and background on the project.

Lead contamination has become a national safety concern because dangerous levels were found in tap water in Flint, Mich. According to a report released in June by the Natural Resources Defense Council, titled "What’s In Your Water? Flint and Beyond,” “Lead can decrease a child’s cognitive capacity, cause behavior problems, and limit the ability to concentrate — all of which, in turn, affect the ability to learn in school.”

Dr. Justin Smith, a pediatrician and the medical adviser for digital health for Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, issued a fact sheet for parents after the lead samples were reported this summer. The situations in Flint’s tap water and Fort Worth schools’ water fountains are different, he said.

“In Flint, the central water was the source of lead, which caused prolonged exposure and significantly increased the risk of toxicity. Because the number of elevated sites of lead at each Fort Worth ISD campus was low, the likelihood of a buildup of lead over time is highly unlikely,” Smith wrote.

He urged parents with concerns or questions to talk to their pediatricians.

Staff writer Sandra Baker contributed to this report, which includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Fort Worth school trustees OK purchase of water fountains."