How
School Districts Use Acorn
AquaR
to Get the Lead Out of Students’ Drinking Water
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 AquaR, 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
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