Reading Baptist Day: Water is Safe, Another Test Set for Tuesday

By Alison Bauter and Mike Carraggi, Patch Staff

A Reading school that had been flagged in 2014 for having high levels of lead in its water says the situation was addressed and the water is safe.

Reading Baptist Day School Acting Director Margie Gibson said Tuesday the lead levels were addressed immediately after the school was notified. She also says the school was set to be tested again Tuesday.

"We replaced all of the faucets and bubblers in the hallway," Gibson said. "The water that was tested was used in the church, not the school. We'll have it re-tested again and make sure."

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Baptist Day was among 20 schools in Massachusetts districts identified in a Monday report by The Boston Globe as having tested high for lead levels in the water.

The report covered 293 schools and early education centers across the state. You can find the full list of Patch towns here. In Reading, those schools included Reading Baptist Day, Killam Elementary, Barrows Elementary, and Austin Prep.

Water tested in the kitchen at the Reading Baptist Day School - what Gibson said was the church, not the school itself - tested high at 17.3 parts per billion. The other schools were beneath the limit; The Environmental Protection Agency recommends drinking water with lead concentrations of no more than 15 parts per billion.

While the testing isn't new information, the issue is how widespread the situation has become.

The report builds on an investigative report out Thursday from The Guardian that identified Boston and Worcester among 33 locations around the country that have used water testing "cheats" reminiscent of Flint, Mich. Both cities have since disputed this report.

Now, state data obtained by the Globe shows that a small percentage of schools tested - most in 2014 and 2015 - has unacceptably high levels of lead in the water.

Lead in drinking water is a serious concern, particularly for children. Exposure to unsafe levels has been tied to behavioral issues and lower IQs. The issue has gained heightened attention this past year, following revelations in Flint.

>>> Read the full story from The Boston Globe here.