Kids Exposed to Unsafe Drinking Water at School

Through our confidence in the government and because of aggressive marketing efforts by tap water advocates we've been hoodwinked into believing that our drinking water is safe.

But evidence mounts and mounts and mounts to show otherwise.

The latest news to bubble up about tap water may in fact be the most disturbing.

Following on the heels of the New York Times Toxic Waters series, which revealed that one in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals, the Associated Press reports that the drinking water at schools is contaminated with unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins.

This applies to public schools and private schools, those with wells and those with municipal water.

The contamination is most apparent at schools with wells, which represent 8 to 11 percent of the nation's schools. Roughly one of every five schools with its own water supply violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in the past decade, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency analyzed by the AP.

Among the report's other findings:

• Water in about 100 school districts and 2,250 schools breached federal safety standards

• Those schools and districts racked up more than 5,550 separate violations. In 2008, the EPA recorded 577 violations, up from 59 in 1998 — an increase that officials attribute mainly to tougher rules.

• California, which has the most schools of any state, also recorded the most violations with 612, followed by Ohio(451), Maine (417), Connecticut (318) and Indiana (289).

• Nearly half the violators in California were repeat offenders. One elementary school in Tulare County, in the farm country of the Central Valley, broke safe-water laws 20 times.

• The most frequently cited contaminant was coliform bacteria, followed by lead and copper, arsenic and nitrates.

As the AP reporters point out, the stakes are particularly high when these types of contaminants and toxins are found in school water supplies. Children do not have the same tolerance for these contaminants as do adults, so the threat to their health is amplified.

The contaminants are especially dangerous to children, who drink more water per pound than adults and are more vulnerable to the effects of many hazardous substances.

"There's a different risk for kids," said Cynthia Dougherty, head of the EPA's Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water.

Still, the EPA does not have the authority to require testing for all schools and can only provide guidance on environmental practices.