Kids in Camden are still living on bottled water after 17 years of lead pipe concerns – NJ.com

The water fountains in Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy, one of the newest public schools in Camden, have never been turned on. In the city’s schools, it’s nothing new — they’ve been relying on bottled water for the past 17 years. And while a national lead water crisis earlier this year in Newark prompted officials to take statewide action to combat the issue, Camden school leaders say they don’t see an end in sight for bottled water distribution.

A decision was made to decommission the water fountains in all of the district’s schools after concerns were raised in the early 2000s about high lead levels in aging pipes throughout the city. The water policy is still in place today, even though city and state officials say local tap water is, and has been, in compliance with lead-safety requirements.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we are continuing the practice of providing all students and staff with bottled water,” Onome Pela-Emore, the district chief financial officer and spokeswoman said. “We will continue to follow all regulatory guidelines for monitoring our water structures and as we near the next window of regulatory testing and maintenance we will adjust and reassess the need to provide bottled water.”

City and state officials agree that samplings for lead and other contaminants in city tap water have remained under 15 parts per billion since 2002, the oldest date for available data. Officials said more than 10% of samplings must be above that level to not be in compliance with federal drinking water standards.

The samplings are typically taken in areas that have the highest risk for lead-contaminated water, which often is caused by aging service lines that connect water mains to homes or buildings. An official for N.J. American Water, which administers the Camden water utility, said she was not sure if any sampling was done inside of schools.

Lead is an odorless metal that can impact a child’s cognition and behavior. Young children under age 6 are most at-risk to lead’s health threats, though exposure can cause harm to older children and adults, too.

Tap water is still used to prepare meals in all Camden city schools. Pela-Emore said measures are taken to make sure those lines are safe, including the use of filters.

“Last year we tested the entire district, all sinks and running water for lead levels,” she said. “Less than 1 or 2% came back positive for lead.” The decommissioned fountains were not tested, she said.

Schools are not required to replace lead service lines — an expensive and time consuming process. They are only required to shut off the problem water outlets and supply an alternate source of water. But there’s a cost to that, too.

The district spent $110,000 on bottled water in the last school year. It was $35,000 more that it spent in 2016 when NJ Advance Media last reported on the practice.

Costs are rising this year. The district bought thousands of 5-gallon bottles of water this year at $2.50 each. Last year, they cost $1.50 each. The cost for renting its 375 water coolers doubled from .99 cents per rental last year to $1.99 this year.

Despite the rising costs, Pela-Emore said there were no plans to fix aging pipes to use tap water for drinking in 19 schools and two administration buildings.

“I don’t believe we have a choice but to provide children with bottled water,” said Keith Benson, president of the Camden Education Association, the union that represents 11,000 teachers and support personnel in the city school district. “We’re doing what is necessary and for the best interest of the kids.”

Advocacy group New Jersey Future said lead service lines have been found in 104 of the hundreds of drinking water systems in the state.

Newark, the state’s largest city, suffered a lead water crisis earlier this year. High lead levels in Newark were first flagged in 2016 when half of the city schools shut off water fountains. The district addressed the issue in several ways, including the installation of filtration systems. Lead levels then spiked city-wide in 2017 after treatment meant to prevent lead from dissolving off lead service lines failed.

Newark has replaced more than 1,000 underground lead pipes of the 18,000 snaking across the city since March of this year. The $132 million project will be complete in the next three years and will be funded by state money and a loan from Essex County.

New Jersey requires schools to test their water for lead every 6 years (though Gov. Phil Murphy is changing that requirement to every three years). Camden schools were last tested in 2017.

About 15,000 students in Camden attend eight charter schools administered by five different operators. It was not immediately clear if any of the charters use bottled drinking water. About 10,000 students attend 19 schools operated by the city school district.

Read more of NJ.com’s coverage of New Jersey water issues here.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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