Arlington Officials Apply for Grants to Test Drinking Water in Schools

ARLINGTON, MA—Arlington officials have applied for grants through the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a full round of water testing, according to a statement issued by Christine Bongiorno, Arlington's Director of Health and Human Services. 

According to the statement, the Town of Arlington has applied for a grant which will allow for the town to conduct a full round of water testing within each public school building. The grants will also allow the town to develop a regular sampling program and a plumbing profile in each school. 

Bongiorno also added that Arlington's schools have tested below Environmental Protection Agency action levels (15 parts per billion) for lead historically.

“We are fortunate in Arlington to have a younger plumbing infrastructure with in our public school system than many other communities, which tends to result in lower lead levels in drinking water than other school systems in Massachusetts and around the nation," Bongiorno said in a statement.

According to a recent report by the Boston Globe, 20 schools in the Commonwealth were identified as having elevated levels of lead in their drinking water. Fountain water tested at Arlington Heights Nursery school recently tested at 24.6 parts per billion, but Nursery School director Margaret Potter told Patch that plumbing to the fountain tested had been disconnected and none of the school's three fountains are used by children. 

The recent water crisis in Flint, Mich. has sparked state-wide interest in water quality. Water at the school buildings comes from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. 

Bongiorno added that the results of the testing will be made available to the public as soon as possible.