Melrose Schools Gets $24K For Cleaner Drinking Water

MELROSE, MA — Melrose Public Schools received a $24,000 grant for the purchase and installation of eight filtered water bottle filling stations after the past detection of small traces of lead in some drinking fixtures.

The School Water Improvement Grant, or SWIG, program gave $675,000 to 32 school districts in its first round of grants. Grants were awarded at $3,000 per fixture.

The funds are eligible to be used for buying and installing the filling stations, future testing of the fixtures and the purchase of replacement filters.

The district is in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency standards of lead in its drinking water, DPW Director Elena Proakis Ellis told Patch. The city does not yet know which fixtures will receive the filling stations.

"Starting in 2017, the Department of Public Works tested all drinking water and kitchen fixtures in all schools and brought all the schools into compliance," Proakis Ellis said. "This program allows us to continue to further improve the water quality in our schools, with the additional benefit that the new stations will encourage students to bring refillable water bottles to school."

Lead testing at schools is voluntary. The state suggests action be taken if the lead level is above the Department of Environmental Protection-recommended detection limit of 1 part per billion — that limit does not necessarily mean water is unsafe to drink, though experts say no level of lead in water is considered safe to drink.

Detectable levels of lead in Massachusetts schools, especially older ones, is not uncommon. Most lead gets into drinking water after it leaves a treatment plant, often picking it up through older plumbing fixtures.