La Center school water called safe

Water in the La Center School District is safe to drink, as tests of the water turned up no or low traces of lead, the district announced this week.

The district tested samples of water from all schools, according to a news release sent out Friday, and “all samples have come back as either no trace of lead/copper or well below the threshold for safe to drink,” the release said. The samples were sent out two weeks ago.

Clark County schools have been prompted to test their drinking water this spring after a test in Portland schools found multiple problems with water there.

So far, water sources at Ridgefield High School and View Ridge Middle School in the Ridgefield School District, Dorothy Fox Elementary School and the Zellerbach Administration Center in the Camas School District and Image Elementary School in Evergreen Public Schools were found to have elevated levels of lead.

The schools testing water are looking for samples to come out below the Washington State Department of Health rule of 20 parts per billion and the federal limit of 15 parts per billion.

In local water supplies, the Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency prescribe regulations that limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Lead in drinking water primarily comes from plumbing installed prior to 1986.

“The most common problem is with brass or chrome-plated brass faucets and fixtures with lead solder, from which significant amounts of lead can enter into the water, especially hot water,” according to EPA’s website.