SUMMIT TWP — Summit Township Elementary School was connected to a new public water line earlier this month, but officials remain unsure when the school will be ready for students.

When classes resume Wednesday the students from Summit and Clearfield townships who would normally attend Summit Elementary will again go to Broad Street Elementary School in Butler. Broad Street school had been vacant since being closed in 2015 and offered enough space to accommodate the more-than-200 Summit pupils.

Acting Superintendent William Pettigrew said Monday that the district is still running water through the school's plumbing and collecting samples to be tested for lead and copper levels.

Officials will not consider reopening the school until tests of the water coming out of the school's faucets show low, or nonexistent, levels of lead.

“We will not move the students out to that school until the board feels confident that the water situation is clear and there are no problems,” Pettigrew said.

Pettigrew announced earlier in the summer that the school would likely not be ready in time for the first day of school.

Tests of samples collected at the school in August of last year showed concentrations of lead and copper well above the state Department of Environmental Protection's action levels. School officials have been working since January to diagnose and correct the water problems.

Engineers with Gannett Fleming were hired by the district to look into the problem and found that the well water at the school had become more acidic over the years and it was corroding the copper pipes and lead soldering in the school.

The public water, which is monitored and maintained by Pennsylvania American Water Co., has a neutral pH level and contains phosphate, a chemical compound that coats the pipes and protects the water.

In a report given to the school board in April, Gannett Fleming estimated that replacing the plumbing in the school would cost $400,000, though engineers did not recommend the school board take that step unless the phosphate in the public water was unable to effectively passivate the pipes.

The amount of time needed for the phosphate to coat the pipes and for the lead levels to decrease was unknown, they said.

Pennsylvania American Water in the spring agreed to extend water service from Hinchberger Road to Herman Road, and up Bonniebrook Road north to service the school and other properties along those roads.

Pennsylvania American spokesman Gary Lobaugh said Monday that the company completed the line extension earlier this month and there about 100 residences who are within 150 feet of the line and must tap in, per township ordinance.

There is no tap-in fee, but residents must pay for the cost of installation.

The township is responsible for enforcing that ordinance, but Pennsylvania American notified the property owners earlier this summer and will conduct additional outreach this fall, Lobaugh said.

DEP on Aug. 2 issued an interim operating permit to Pennsylvania American for the new main, allowing the school to be connected, according to spokeswoman Melanie Williams.

The school district is still required to submit a corrosion control feasibility study after its past violations, though tapping into the public water source makes the school a water customer.

The department is continuing to work with the school district and Pennsylvania American to ensure a safe water supply to the school, Williams said.