Gus Marcos is a facility manager of a major school district. He and his crews work hard to keep campuses running smoothly so students can focus on learning. While broken fixtures, clogged urinals, and vandalized restrooms are common, his crews must also do a daily a 30-second faucet flush of school fountains to rid supply lines of unacceptable levels of lead contaminants. There are 2,000 drinking fountains Gus’s district.
Lead leaches into the water supply from many sources, including from
the lead solder on piping. However, old fountain faucets with brass fittings
are particularly troublesome because of the health hazards of lead exposure
to young students. Replacement of aging plumbing can carry an enormous
price tag for school districts of any size; by some estimates, an average
of $300 million per district.
Under Pressure
Lead testing of school fountains began in the late 1980s when it was first discovered that drinking fountains at many schools nationwide exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended ‘action’ or safe level for drinking water—20 parts per billion. As a stop gap measure, faucet flushing became a policy mandate at most schools to help minimize dangers until, and if, plumbing could be replaced.
Medical experts document that long-term lead contamination can interfere with the growth and development of a child's brain and nervous system, and damage the kidneys. Young children under age six are especially vulnerable. Lead poisoning has also been linked to learning disabilities, even crime and anti-social behavior.
School districts and facility managers are under constant pressure to deliver safe drinking water, despite the nation’s aging school infrastructure. Some east coast schools date back a century or more and still admirably serve student populations. Short of wholesale demolition and rebuilding, the logical response is to steadily upgrade inefficient plumbing fixtures to minimize lead-leaching.
“There’s no question that lead in schools is a big national issue—especially in some of the older urban cities that have this old plumbing infrastructure,” warns Virginia Tech Environmental Engineer Marc Edwards in a recent article in Science News. Educational institutions face a tougher challenge because fountains sit for long periods without use. All throughout summer recess or holiday breaks, water sits stagnant in supply lines, increasing the likelihood of contamination.
Solution at Hand
Through a third party, Gus approached Acorn Aqua®, one division of a family of companies under Acorn Engineering Company, a global leader in custom-engineered plumbing products for environmentally responsible applications. He learned that Acorn Aqua manufactures an extensive line of indoor and outdoor drinking fountains, known for heavy duty durability and functional design, and works closely with schools.
Only one problem. He has no budget to buy new fountains. Affordability, adaptability and safety are minimal criteria. What’s more, every spot where water and brass meet?from sink faucets in classrooms to pot fillers in cafeterias—also needs to conform to the project definition.
Enter the Brass Bubbler
Bob Bowles, Acorn Aqua’s National Sales Manager, cautions that “every faucet and valve is made from brass. Hundreds of key components in plumbing devices are brass. It’s durable, indestructible. So we had to come up with a breakthrough product.” Within weeks, Acorn Aqua’s engineering team struck on the right answer: A simple yet effective new lead-free bubbler kit. Ready for installation, the bubbler retrofit kit fits easily into the existing faucet housing. Better still, it offers the added benefit of reduced labor costs because facility managers do not have to remove fountains from walls, a prohibitive expense for the district. Here’s how it works.
“We created a stainless steel bubbler with additional components made of heavy duty food-grade plastic to deliver the best possible protection against any lead leaching. Absolutely no permeability. Affordable, too,” Bob Bowles says.
Importantly, the bubbler meets California’s AB1953 mandate, and the National Sanitary Foundation standard (NSF/ANSI Standard 61, section 9, annex G), which requires that any manufactured product comply with the =0.25 percent maximum weighted average lead content requirement under new state laws, which go into effect January 1, 2010.
Acorn Aqua’s bubblers are 100% lead free. The daily ritual of flushing thousands of faucets is no longer necessary, a double-barrel benefit of the bubbler; the district conserves water and reduces man hours. Gus and his custodians are busy retrofitting dozens of school fountains with Acorn Aqua’s new bubbler kit. They may even put in for a vacation day soon.
*Based on an actual case study; Gus Marcos is a pseudonym at the request of
client