Dallas school officials say they won't test drinking water unless there's a specific complaint.
The Dallas Morning News reports that the district doesn't routinely test water quality, even though school officials have known for years that many campuses have old plumbing systems, some of them potentially containing lead.
Results from a water test at Lakewood Elementary School haven't come in yet, but the district is shuttering its Cotton building after discovering lead and other contaminants. It's also moving hundreds of workers to other facilities and offering to pay for blood testing for exposed employees.
Dallas ISD spokesman Andre Riley said the district is not sure what caused the contamination at the 95-year-old building. It was formerly a Procter & Gamble manufacturing plant.
Without more research, Riley said he wasn't sure whether the Cotton building or any campuses have lead pipes or lead solder in the pipes.
There aren't state or federal laws requiring schools to test drinking water, but the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, has caused many schools around the country to check water quality.
Peter Binney, vice president of infrastructure for Colorado engineering firm Merrick & Co., said aging lead pipes don't automatically result in high lead levels in the water. There's typically problems that serve as a catalyst, he said.
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Besides corrosive water, changes to water usage pattern can affect lead levels, he said. If water is used less frequently, it can cause the "sluggish water" to sit longer in pipes and potentially leech lead from its surroundings, Binney said.
"We have always been aware of this issue, but it hasn't had the public attention like we've seen at this moment," he said. "We do invest a lot in the safety, security, welfare and well-being of our children. We have a responsibility to make sure that (water) is not an issue."
The Texas Department of Health has no recommendations about whether schools should test on their own.
