A new water filtration system is coming for a school in Yarmouth County.
In September, a test of Plymouth School’s drilled well showed slightly higher than normal levels of arsenic in the water.
Tri-County Regional School Board Director of Operations Steve Stoddart says the new system should be installed by the end of next week.
“We will test the water to find out if we’re below the recommended arsenic levels. If so, environment will lift the advisory and we’ll go from there.”
In the meantime the school will continue to use bottled water.
Stoddart says arsenic is common in wells in this area.
According to environment guidelines, 0.01 milligrams of arsenic per litre is an acceptable level, and Plymouth’s September reading was 0.035 milligrams per litre.
Stoddart says the Board is required to conduct a chemical analysis every two years, but they do them annually.
In 2006, environment lowered the limits for the acceptable levels of arsenic. We have four schools now that have arsenic filter systems in, because the recommended guidelines were lowered, and we were slightly over on those four. Since then, my point from the property services side of it, why wait two years? Let’s go above the guideline and test annually, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
The well passed inspection in 2015.
