Bottle water supplied to identified schools

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Students and staff at five public schools have been supplied with bottled water after recent tests showed the level of lead in drinking water exceeded the Ministry of Environment standards.

The following schools are distributing bottled water as a health safety precautionary measure while the water is re-tested.

• Bliss Carman Sr. Public School (Scarborough)

• Blythwood Jr. Public School (Midtown Toronto)

• Charles Gordon (Scarborough)

• H.A. Halbert Jr. Public School (Scarborough)

• Victoria Park Collegiate Institute (North York)

The preliminary test results taken from water samples in the summer were not available, but the noted schools exceeded the ministry standard of 10 micrograms of lead per litre, said Kelly Baker, communications co-ordinator of the Toronto District School Board.

"These five schools are still being tested regularly," said Baker, adding the majority of 600 schools in the board have received their initial results back and have been cleared.

As part of the new legislated regulation set by the Ministry of Environment in June, all schools are required to flush their water supplies at least once weekly. Any school with plumbing installed before 1990 is required to perform daily flushing.

"The results of this water testing are reported by laboratories to the school contact," explained Nancy Whynot, director of the Ministry of Education's capital programs branch, in a memo to the education directors across Ontario. "All results that exceed the provincial standard are reported to the Ministry of the Environment and the local medical officer of health."

No student or staff has been reported any illness as a result of the lead levels in the drinking water, Baker said.