Nearly two years after testing water quality in all schools, thousands of drinking fountains and taps are still non-compliant due to the presence of lead. The work to correct the situation is dragging on, despite a directive from Quebec on this subject.
At the request of the Ministry of Education, the quality of water was analyzed in all schools in the province in 2020 and in early 2021. Result: approximately 36% of water points in Quebec public schools exceeded the standard five micrograms of lead per liter of water.
In some school service centres, the majority of water points were non-compliant.
Bars and taps were subsequently condemned while above several others, posters indicating that the water must be run at least one minute or 30 seconds before drinking it were affixed, the time to perform the required work.
This procedure worries parents, who wonder to what extent this directive is respected by students on a daily basis (see other text below).
A few months ago, the Ministry of Education asked school service centers to carry out all work on non-compliant water points for the start of the school year, said its spokesperson, Bryan St-Louis.
The instruction concerns condemned water points, but also those for which it is necessary to run the water before drinking it, he specifies.
Work not completed
However, in several schools, the work is still not finished.
At the Montreal school service center, 2,357 water points are still non-compliant (35%) while at the Capital, Quebec City, work is still pending on 483 taps or refreshment bars, according to data sent to the Log.
However, the situation has improved in some places.
At the Laval school service center, 953 problematic water points were detected in 2020, while major plumbing work remains to be done on 65 of them.
At the end of August, the Ministry of Education asked the school network for a report on this subject, but the data that is being processed is not yet available, indicated Mr. St-Louis.
Delays
On the ground, the school network comes up against several obstacles, it is explained.
All school service centers ordered certified lead-free parts around the same time, which caused delays, says Navigateurs School Service Center spokeswoman Louise Boisvert.
“We also experience installation delays from plumbing contractors,” she adds.
Drinking fountains that have been changed are retested and sometimes still give positive results, so other plumbing parts have to be replaced and retested again, she adds.
Lead in the water: work to be done
The example of the schools of the Montreal School Service Center
2020-2021
- Compliant water points: 3693 (52%)
- Non-compliant water points: 3404 (48%)
Total : 7097
2021-2022
- Compliant water points: 4410 (65%)
- Non-compliant water points: 2357 (35%)
Total : 6767
Source: Center de services scolaire de Montréal, data sent to the Ministry of Education in August 2022 as part of a follow-up on non-compliant water points.
Parents and teachers not reassured
Parents and teachers are concerned to note that bars and taps in several schools have still not been the subject of work to remove all traces of lead in the water.
Over the past few weeks, parents and staff have contacted The newspaper on this subject.
For many, the instruction to run the water before drinking it “is not reassuring”. “We know very well that there is no child who does this,” says a parent, who however refused to be identified.
In the movement I protect my public school, spokesperson Patricia Clermont describes the situation as “unacceptable”. “It is really worrying to see that it is not resolved. It once again contributes to the devaluation of the public network, ”she says.
The presence of lead in the water is only a symptom of the dilapidated state of the schools, in the same way as the concerns surrounding ventilation and air quality, she underlines.
“Unmarked” situation
At the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec, its president Kévin Roy is “surprised” to learn that the situation “is not yet resolved”. “What I would like is for the parents to at least be informed,” he says.
If it is necessary to run the water of certain refreshments before drinking it, “it is necessary to make sure that the pupils respect the instruction”, he adds.
For his part, Sylvain Martel, spokesperson for the Regroupement des Comités de Parents Autonomes du Québec, notes that this issue has been swept under the carpet because of the pandemic.
“Let’s say that there were more serious and more urgent things. But the situation is far from being resolved everywhere,” he laments.
The concerns are also present in the ranks of the staff, indicates Line Camerlain, vice-president of the Central unions of Quebec. “We have no information on the progress of the work and that is causing concern,” she says.
At the Alliance of Teachers of Montreal, its president Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre deplores that the situation is “almost trivialized” in schools.
“We are no longer startled to see a water fountain that is condemned with a plastic over it or with a sign saying let the water run for five minutes. […] But the goal is still that the water flowing from each tap is drinkable,” she says.