FLINT, MI -- The number of water samples with elevated levels of lead in Flint elementary schools increased in February with more tests registering above the federal action limit than did one month earlier.
New data from the state Department of Environmental Quality shows the spike in samples that tested above 15 parts per billion of lead, the threshold under the Lead and Copper Rule, and also shows stubborn problems with water persisting at Doyle Ryder Elementary, where 11 samples registered above 15 ppb.
Although the second round of school tests showed a marked increase in lead hot spots, the testing conditions changed from January, and a DEQ official said those changes could account for 28 samples registering higher than 15 ppb compared to just 20 at the nine buildings in January.
Among the changes was the decision to collect samples at every test site in each school before flushing lines for further testing. Samples that are collected before lines are flushed tend to have higher lead levels because of the time water is in contact with pipes.
Even with the increase in samples with elevated lead, the February tests would meet federal guidelines for lead if treated the same as the samples collected by a municipal water system.
"The main takeaway is that the results overall are encouraging," said George Krisztian, assistant director of the DEQ's Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance. "Things have gotten better."
Flint Community Schools' students haven't used tap water in their buildings since September 2015, just months before Gov. Rick Snyder recognized a health emergency in the city because of water contamination.
Testing that same year showed elevated lead in water at three Flint elementary schools.
State officials had not tested school water since 2016, when they re-started that effort in January. They are expected to complete a third round of testing this month.
After three rounds of testing, the DEQ has said it will consider those and other water testing results before making recommendations for the state's role in Flint water going forward, including state-funded bottled water.
Mayor Karen Weaver has said state-funded bottled water should continue to be supplied until all lead and galvanized service lines in the city have been replaced.
In a statement to MLive-The Flint Journal Friday, March 9, Weaver said the city's chief public health advisor and director of public works have been meeting with DEQ representatives, public health officials and researchers who are members of the Flint Technical Advisory Council to review school sampling data.
"They are providing input and recommending changes necessary to help determine accurate lead levels as well as the source of the lead," the mayor's statement says.
"I am convinced that these test results prove additional work and investigation is needed to determine the source (or sources) of the lead, and what actions must be taken to address and resolve the problem, once and for all."
Collected in mid-February, the new results show:
- Only one school -- Pierce Elementary -- had every sample test below 15 ppb of lead. Holmes, Durant and Freeman elementaries each had just one sample above the federal threshold.
- A total of 589 samples were collected in February compared to 705 in the first round. Despite testing fewer samples, 28 were above 15 ppb compared to 20 in the first round.
- Taken as a whole, the district's 90th percentile for lead was 6 ppb, up from 4 ppb in January testing. That means 10 percent of water samples registered 6 ppb or more for lead.
- The sample with the highest level of lead -- 279 ppb -- was collected from Eisenhower Elementary. The next-highest reading also came from the school -- 91 ppb.
- If a stricter threshold for lead were adopted, such as the 10 ppb supported by Gov. Rick Snyder, an additional 11 samples would have been above the limit. If the standard for bottled water -- 5 ppb -- were adopted, an additional 25 samples would have exceed it in February testing.
Krisztian said testing that's occurring in schools can't be easily compared to testing that water systems perform every six months to comply with the Lead and Copper Rule, including the use of smaller sample bottles being used in school testing.
Larger collection bottles tend to produce samples with lower levels of lead.
"We're trying to get the worst-case scenario," Krisztian said.
Clare Liening, a school district spokeswoman, did not comment on the most recent test results.