Eyestone and WJH students drinking fountain water again

By Gary Raham
Wellington Correspondent

On Oct. 24, students at Eyestone Elementary and Wellington Junior High started using school water fountains again, following two months of drinking bottled water.

On Aug. 14, Wellington officials notified residents that the town had violated drinking water standards for one testing measure of total organic carbon (TOC) in the water. Although the town's announcement said that using alternate sources of water was unnecessary, WJH Principal Alicia Durand passed the information to district administrators, who elected to provide Deep Rock bottled water until the next quarter's water test results came in.

"We decided to go ahead and take some precautions," said Pete Hall, director of facilities for Poudre School District. "We have to look at the health concerns of both students and staff."

TOC in water has no direct health effects, according to the town announcement, but organic carbon can provide a medium for byproducts like trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids that are implicated in certain kidney, liver and nervous system problems and may pose an increased cancer risk.

Wellington has two sources of water: well and reservoir. Well water has low TOC levels, but reservoir water can have higher levels from organic debris when water levels are relatively low. After making adjustments to its testing and treatment procedures, the Wellington Public Works Department on Oct. 23 received an e-mail from the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment confirming that the town was in compliance for the third quarter of the year. Bill Bodkins with the public works department passed the word on to the district that same day.

Junior high science teacher Vicky Jordan said there were some benefits to having bottled water. "The Deep Rock has really helped kids stay hydrated," she said, "because it tastes good, is cold, and the kids like to drink it more than buying something out of the machines." She also mentioned new scientific research that says adequate water consumption "is a key to keeping the brain actively engaged in learning."

Recent legislation also prohibits the sale of sugared soda in schools, so distributors have substituted juice, bottled water and low-calorie or no-calorie sodas. Jordan said it's much better for students, and no one has complained.

Hall said that the only other time bottled water has been provided to PSD schools was several years back when some mountain schools had drought-related problems with their water supply and a pump failure. The district installed water storage tanks near those schools in case of future problems.