Hopkinton Schools Awarded $33K For New Water Fountains

HOPKINTON, MA — Hopkinton Public Schools received a $33,000 grant for the purchase and installation of filtered water bottle filling stations after the detection of lead in some drinking fixtures.

Hopkinton Public Schools voluntarily had the water in schools tested in 2016 due to concerns surrounding the older fixtures and aging infrastructure. Hopkinton Public Schools Superintendent Carol Cavanaugh said after the results came back, any affected fixtures were shut down immediately in the 2016-17 school year. At the same time, the district installed bottle filling stations, so that students had access to filtered water.

With the grant money, the district can change out the rest of the affected drinking fountains.

"We are grateful to have received the grant to support this important work," Cavanaugh said.

John Westerling, Hopkinton's Director of the Department of Public Works, said the department is excited to work with the schools to determine the best locations for the stations. "We are delighted to hear the schools received this grant — providing the best water quality to our residents, especially our youngest residents is always a top priority," Westerling said.

The School Water Improvement Grant, or SWIG, program gave $675,000 to 32 school districts in its first round of grants. Grants were awarded at $3,000 per fixture.

The funds are eligible to be used for buying and installing the filling stations, future testing of the fixtures and the purchase of replacement filters.

Lead testing at schools is voluntary. The state suggests action be taken if the lead level is above the Mass Department of Environmental Protection-recommended detection limit of 1 part per billion — that limit means action should be taken, not that water is necessarily unsafe to drink. Still, experts say no level of lead in water is considered safe to drink.

Detectable levels of lead in Massachusetts schools, especially older ones, is not uncommon. Most lead gets into drinking water after it leaves a treatment plant, often picking it up through older plumbing fixtures.