August 04, 2016
The School District of Philadelphia is retesting drinking water outlets for lead concentration levels at 40 schools across the city to ensure they meet federal and city guidelines.
The district selected 40 schools for the project, which is expected to take about four months to complete. Four schools will be tested each week. Reviews of laboratory analysis reports, coordinating further testing, repairs and remediation could add another six weeks to the process.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency requires water systems to control the corrosivity of water. No more than 10 percent of tap water samples can exceed 15 parts per billion.
The schools selected are located in areas where children have the highest blood lead levels. The buildings must have been built before 1991 — and not renovated in the last 25 years. They come from eight learning networks — facilities grouped regionally for maintenance and housekeeping purposes.
The district last tested its drinking water between 2000 and 2010 under its Safe Drinking Water Program. Some 30,000 individual water samples were collected from potable water sources in the district's 293 buildings.
Each building received final tests that included the findings for each potable water source and certified that all water outlets that remained in service were in compliance with United States Environmental Protection Agency and Philadelphia Department of Public Health guidelines.
The district formed a Safe Drinking Water Technical Advisory Committee in May to provide guidance on a retesting approach. The committee is comprised of experts from the Philadelphia Water Department, EPA, Philadelphia Public Health Department and Philadelphia Federations of Teachers Union Health and Welfare Fund.
The water sample collection, testing, analysis and chain-of-custody protocol is being conducted by an independent, state-certified analytical laboratory.
The list of schools being tested follows.
• Overbrook Elementary School
• Patterson Elementary School
• McDaniel Elementary School
• Gompers Elementary School
• William Cullen Bryant Elementary School
• Locke Elementary School
• Nebinger Elementary School
• Cassidy Elementary School
• Blankenburg Elementary School
• Overbrook High School
• Huey Elementary School
• Spring Garden Elementary School
• Bache Elementary School
• Dunbar Elementary School
• Meade Elementary School
• Ludlow Elementary School
• Benjamin Franklin High School
• Pierce Elementary School
• Ethel Allen Elementary School
• Bethune Elementary School
• Steele Elementary School
• W. D. Kelley Elementary School
• Richmond Elementary School
• Potter Thomas Elementary School
• Cramp Elementary School
• Webster Elementary School
• Henry A. Brown Elementary School
• Elwood Elementary School
• Henry H. Houston Elementary School
• Dobson Elementary School
• J.B. Kelly Elementary School
• Hopkinson Elementary School
• Ziegler Elementary School
• Feltonville Elementary School
• Decatur Elementary School
• Pollock Elementary School
• Holme Elementary School
• Disston Elementary School
• Mayfair Elementary School
• South Parkway Center City High School
