Josue Lopez Portfolio

One of the many water fountain stories i have worked on

Students at schools in Englewood including the high school got an update on the water quality issue The Pirateer has been following for a few months.

Senior Haliegh Worthy is an athlete so needs good water, “I bring my own water from home, like in bottles. I put bottled water into my water bottle.”

She brings water from home because she doesn’t like the taste of the water from the fountains at EHS, “Rocky, minerals, a lot of minerals, pool water. Oh, I work at a pool, definitely pool water. It makes me nauseous to think about it.”

Hearing word that the water fountains will soon have filters is exciting, “Oh, that would be really nice. It would save me a lot of money because the water here is absolutely disgusting. Yeah, they should add the filter. I feel like it’ll benefit a lot of kids.”

The deputy superintendent, Joanna Polzin read the recent article in the September news magazine that mentioned the students’ concerns about the taste and smell of the water coming out of the drinking fountains. Polzin reached out to Ariel Ramos, the Supervisor Of Operations and Maintenance for Englewood Public Schools.

Ramos said the first step is to get bids, “We have reached out to multiple plumbing companies to give us quotes and solutions to get filters on all fountains. This is also going to take into account some areas in the building where there are sinks.” Ramos says there was a new Bill that was passed to test for Lead in the water at schools.

House Bill 22-1358 was passed May 9, 2022, stating all water in Colorado schools should be tested for lead and districts have until May 2023 or November 30, 2024, for middle schools, to complete the tests. The act requires a state-certified lab to measure the lead content from each water source. The results will be sent to the water quality control commission which will post the results on its public website within 30 days of receiving them. According to the bill on the Colorado General Assembly website, “If the results of a test of a drinking water source show that water from the drinking water source contains lead in an amount of 5 parts per billion or more, a child care center, family child care home, or P-8 school must notify all employees and parents and guardians of students, discontinue use of the drinking water source, and take specific measures to address and remediate the drinking water source.”

Ramos says the testing for water in elementary schools and preschools is first on the list and should be complete end of this year. Secondary schools are slated to be tested next year, “But we are working with the state and several partners to make sure we test and then meet all needs to mitigate any issues that may come up.”