WHAT HAPPENS THERE IS THAT THE FLUSHING CLEANS OUT THE PIPES OF ALL THE SOLUBLE LEAD THAT'S READY TO GO INTO THE WATER IF THERE ARE ANY LITTLE BITS OF LEAD THAT ARE READY TO FLAKE OFF, IT BLASTS THEM AWAY, BLOWS THEM AWAY. THEN TURNING THEM OFF, LEAVING FOR EIGHT HOURS, COME BACK AND DO THE BEST. THEY WERE HAVING THE BUILDINGS CLOSED OVERNIGHT AND DOING THE TESTS VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING.īUT BEFORE THAT THEY WERE GOING IN THE NIGHT BEFORE, TURNING ON ALL THE FAUCETS, AND LETTING THEM RUN FOR TWO HOURS. SO THE EPA RECOMMENDS WHEN YOU'RE TESTING WATER IN SCHOOLS, YOU LET - MAKE SURE THE WATER HAS BEEN SITTING IN THE PIPES FOR AT LEAST EIGHT HOURS. I MENTIONED A LITTLE AT THE TOP BUT EXPLAIN THAT PROCESS, WHAT THEY WERE DOING. WE HAD GOTTEN A TIP FROM SOMEONE WHO THOUGHT THERE WAS SOMETHING A LITTLE WEIRD ABOUT THEIR TEST AND REFERRED TO THEM RUNNING THE WATER FOR HOURS. THEY RELEASED THE RESULTS AND SAID THAT ONLY, AS YOU SAID, 1% OF FIXTURES HAD LEAD LEVELS ABOVE 50 IN PARTS PER BILLION, WHICH IS A LEVEL THAT THE EPA HAS IDENTIFIED AS A LEVEL WHERE THERE'S SOME CONCERN. SO NEW YORK CITY DECIDED SOME SCHOOLS HADN'T BEEN TESTED FOR LEAD IN OVER 10 YEARS, THEY DECIDED TO TEST, WHICH WAS IN THEORY A GOOD IDEA.
SO THAT'S PARTICULARLY A PROBLEM IN SCHOOLS FOR A COUPLE OF REASONS.įIRST OF ALL, SCHOOL BUILDINGS TEND TO BE OLD AND HAVE A LOT OF OLD FIXTURES THAT PREDATE LAWS ABOUT LEAD, THAT HAVE LEAD IN THEM.ĪND THE FIXTURES ARE DETERIORATING AND THE LEAD IS STARTING TO COME OFF.ĪND SECONDLY, SCHOOL BUILDINGS WILL BE CLOSED OFTEN AND THE WATER SITS A LONG TIME, OVER THE WEEKEND, OVER A VACATION, ALL SUMMER. LEAD GETS INTO WATER THROUGH CORROSION FROM PIPES AND FIXTURES THAT CONTAIN LEAD.ĪND THE MOST LEAD CAN GET IN WHEN THE WATER SITS STAGNANT IN THE PIPES. I COVER SCHOOLS IN NEW YORK CITY FOR THE 'TIMES.'ĪND AFTER THE WATER CRISIS IN FLINT STARTED GETTING ATTENTION AND THE VERY HIGH LEAD LEVELS THERE AND THE IMPACT THAT THEY MIGHT BE HAVING, PARTICULARLY ON CHILDREN, A LOT OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS STARTED LOOKING AT THEIR WATER.ĪND I SHOULD PROBABLY SAY A LITTLE ABOUT HOW LEAD GETS INTO WATER.ĪND WHY IT'S A PARTICULAR CONCERN IN SCHOOLS. KATE TAYLOR HAD LED THE PAPER'S COVERAGE OF THIS ISSUE AND WE'RE PLEASED TO WELCOME HER TO TALK ABOUT ALL THIS, NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE. THE NUMBER OF WATER OUTLETS WITH LEVELS OF LEAD COMPETING EPA'S THRESHHOLD INCREASED SOME NINE-FOLD. THE LATEST TEST AFTER THAT PRACTICE OF FLUSHING APPEARED TO BACK UP THOSE CLAIMS. 'THE NEW YORK TIMES' THEN RAN A REPORT POINTING TO THE PRACTICE OF PREFLUSHING THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY USED WITH WATER FAUCETS TURNED ON FOR TWO HOURS BEFORE THE TESTS WERE CONDUCTED.ĮXPERTS SUGGESTED THAT COULD DISTORT THE RESULTS. QUESTIONS WERE RAISED WHEN THE CITY REPORTED 1% OF ALL SAMPLES TAKEN FROM THE SCHOOLS EXCEEDED EPA GUIDELINES. CHANGES FOR THE WAY THE CITY TESTS FOR LEAD IN NEW YORK PUBLIC SCHOOLS DRINKING WATER LED TO THE DISCOVERY OUR STUDENTS ARE EXPOSED TO FAR GREATER AMOUNTS OF THE METAL THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT.