David Zupsic

South Butler School District is taking steps to fix its water issues.

The district announced at Wednesday's school board meeting that a study showed that 20 of its 262 drinking and food preparation water sources are at the state Department of Environmental Protection's action level.

Another 18 tested at or above 50 percent of the action levels for lead and copper.

“Upon receiving the test results, the school district took immediate action following the test results to shut down and post each of the 38 water sources to prevent anyone from using or consuming water from those sources,” the school district stated in a letter sent to parents of district students.

The DEP's action level for lead is .015 mg/L, or 15 parts per billion. Its action level for copper is 1.3 mg/L.

Seventeen water sources had lead levels at the action level, while three had copper levels which require action.

Another nine water sources produced at or above 50 percent of the action level for lead, and 19 more produced at or above 50 percent of the action level for copper.

The testing was done because of “water quality issues facing public school districts in Pennsylvania,” according to the letter.

Gannett Fleming, the engineering company that did the initial tests, began conducting a second round of testing Wednesday to determine whether the problem is with plumbing or fixtures such as sinks.

A motion to continue the school district's contract with Gannett Fleming was passed, 7-0, with one abstention. The motion allows the school district to pay Gannett Fleming up to $6,000.

Another motion was passed, 7-1, to authorize the spending of $8,000 to replace fixtures as needed.

School district superintendent David Zupsic estimated it will take three weeks to get the results back from the second round of testing, at which point the district will know where to spend the $8,000 for replacements.

The 38 fixtures will be out of service until the water issues are resolved, which Zupsic expects to happen before the new school year begins.

If that doesn't happen, Zupsic said the school district will use alternative water sources within the schools.