Run water in drinking fountains to reduce lead exposure as NC students head back to school, expert says

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – It’s a hot start to the school year in central North Carolina, and many students will be filling their water bottles or drinking from water fountains to stay hydrated. If those fountains haven’t been used over the summer, experts suggest running water through them for several minutes to reduce any exposure to lead.

“We really find lead in our water because there’s a certain amount of allowable lead in piping, plumbing and fixtures,” explained Jennifer Hoponick Redmon, director of the environmental health and water quality program at Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International. “When you flush water, you pull out the older water that’s been sitting and you bring in what would be water that’s been moving through the distribution system.”

Hoponick Redmon is also the director of the Clean Classrooms for Carolina Kids program, which works with public schools across the state to check water samples for lead. If lead is detected above 10 ppb, the program provides a fix.

“We know that early childhood lead exposure affects kids in a lifelong way, and so this program is designed to make sure that we get the lead out of tap water today,” Redmon said.

While the program has not yet tested taps at all local schools, data collected so far shows 31% of schools in Cumberland County had at least one tap with lead levels that needed mitigation. Of the schools tested so far in Wake County, none had lead levels that required a fix, but 91% of schools tested so far had at least one tap with a low level of lead detected.

“Since there is no safe level of lead, we do recommend no cost, clean water habits and that’s things like using cold water for drinking or cooking,” noted Hoponick Redmon.

She also recommends flushing all taps used for drinking and cooking, not just after summer break, but even after schools are closed for the weekends, particularly long weekends like next week’s Labor Day holiday. In those cases, she says it’s a good idea to run the water for about 30 seconds.

“Anybody can do it,” she noted. “If you want to drink out of the water fountain and you’re coming in next Tuesday morning, you can just run the water for about 30 seconds and that will take out that water that’s stagnated over that long weekend.”

The Clean Classrooms For Carolina Kids Program also works to eliminate asbestos hazards in public schools. Click here to find out more about the program.

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