A recent study conducted at Austin Community College's Rio Grande Campus discovered substantial quantities of lead in the water supply. In some cases, the lead content exceeded by as much as three times the acceptable levels.
A sampling taken on Dec. 19 from 79 water sources at RGC revealed nine sources where the water samples exceeded the action level of lead concentration.
The current standard, as determined by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1975, allows 15 parts per billion or .015mg of lead per liter of water.
Classroom sinks, mainly concentrated on the third floor at RGC, are shown to exceed the maximum contaminant level by as much as three times. Sinks in violation of the EPA and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality standards are located in rooms 310, 312 and 326.
The sample found to be highest in lead concentration was drawn from the eastern-most sink in room 310.
According to tests conducted by DHL Analytical, a Round Rock based laboratory, samples from the sink in room 310 were found to contain 57.10 parts per billion, more than three times the maximum acceptable level of lead. In room 326, the eastern-most sink laid claim to the second highest amount at 56.90 ppb.
However, the overall level of lead on the third floor at RGC was only 17.07 ppb.
Lead, commonly used in household plumbing materials, can cause a variety of health problems. According to the EPA Web site, prolonged exposure to lead levels above the action level of 15ppb have been proven to physical and developmental delays among children and infants. Studies also show excessive lead exposure is a culprit in attention deficits and learning disabilities.
Lead is rarely detected in primary sources of water, such as Austin's Green Water Treatment Plant, which supplies RGC's water, but rather, it leeches into tap water through older or poorly maintained plumbing infrastructures. ACC's Environmental Health Safety and Insurance Office contracted the services of Baer Engineering and Environmental Consulting Inc. to conduct testing for lead and other metals in order to assess the overall quality of water at RGC.
"We performed this testing at Rio Grande due to the age of the building and associated plumbing to ensure that the [requirements are] met," said OEHI Director Becky Cole. "Part of the main building was constructed in 1916 and the other section was built in 1938. This… is just one of many in our efforts to continuously improve the health and safety at ACC."
The results of the testing effort led to a variety of strategies attempting to correct the problem of excessive lead in ACC's water supply. Warning signs were posted at the sinks where high concentrations were found, citing risk of birth defects and other harmful side affects.
Other solutions included identifying and re-plumbing fittings and entire sections of pipe, although recent re-plumbing efforts failed to solve the problem.
"During the intersession, our plumbing contractor re-plumbed the suspect lines and fittings for the three laboratory sinks identified in the initial investigation," said Cole.
Upon completion of the re-plumbing, Baer Engineering then retested the water from the contaminated sinks. Results found that the problem had not been resolved.
"We are in the process of doing additional investigation on the possible sources of the problem and plan to have any additional re-plumbing of the affected sinks done during spring break," said Cole. "After that is completed, we will again retest the affected sinks to ensure that the problem has been corrected."
Although news of the ongoing effort to improve the quality of water at RGC is encouraging, ACC's Rio Grande Campus is far from lead-free. Traces of lead can still be detected in certain sinks and drinking fountains most notably the northernmost fountain on the third floor of the east corridor.
Despite mixed test results, campus officials insist that continuous measures are being undertaken to remedy this problem.
"The health and safety of our campuses is priority," said Cole. "We will continue our efforts until the problem is resolved."
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