Due to a “high proportion of tested fountains with elevated lead levels” at outdoor parks, the Department of Public Works has turned off the water to all fountains in outdoor parks. Letter and survey from Mayor Setti Warren follow:
On May 17, the City was notified that an external drinking fountain at Family Access of Newton was found to have elevated lead levels. This fountain was turned off. After learning about this, the City decided to proactively test 7 public drinking fountains in the City’s parks to determine whether further action needed to be taken on external fountains. This testing took place on June 10th.The results, received June 23, showed that 5 of 7 fountains tested were above the actionable level. These fountains are:
- Cabot Park hardball field drinking fountain
- Cabot Park softball field drinking fountain
- Cabot Park tennis court drinking fountain
- Crystal Lake bathhouse
- Gath Pool right, rear drinking fountain
Department of Public Works immediately turned off the water to these 5 fountains and Department of Parks and Recreation began supplying bottled water at Crystal Lake and Gath Pool. The City also began evaluating potential options for remediation or additional testing. On June 29, based on the high proportion of tested fountains with elevated lead levels from this screening round, the City chose to turn off external fountains at the following locations:
- Albemarle
- Angier Park
- Auburndale Cove
- Bowen Park
- Boyd Park
- Burr Park
- Cabot Park
- Crystal Lake
- Davis School
- Emerson Playground
- Farlow Park
- Forte Park
- Franklin School
- Gath Pool
- Hawthorne Park
- Hyde Park
- LFCC
- Lyon’s Cove
- Magni Colletti Park
- Memorial Spaulding School
- Nahanton Park Fieldhouse
- New Cold Spring
- Newton Centre Park
- Newton Highlands Park
- Peirce School
- Police Park
- Richardson Playground
- Solomon Schecter
- Stearns Playground
- Upper Falls Playground
- Ward Park
- Warren House Park
- Warren Lincoln Park
- Wellington Playground
- West Newton Common
We are currently evaluating options for remediation of these outdoor fountains. To make informed choices on next steps, we need public input. Please take a short survey at www.newtonma.gov/watersurvey to let us know how you and your family use the outdoor public drinking fountains. If you have any further questions, comments, or concerns, please email us at: [email protected]. In the meantime, we are asking you to bring your own drinks when you visit our parks.The safety of children and families is of the highest importance to us. We hope to hear from you and find solutions that meet residents’ needs and expectations.
—
Sincerely,
Setti D. WarrenMayorCity of Newton, MA
Ummm…..My kids have been drinking from those fountains for the past 5 years. Can someone release the actual lead levels?!?
If it is slightly above the actionable level, while never good, is very different if it is far above. Does it run with lead if you allow the water to run for a minute (thus lowering the lead content if the fountain is in heavy use?)
I’ll also note that if we paid attention to our parks like we should have, all of the water fountains would have been replaced over the past 2 decades, and the piping along with it.
I hope they have outdoor fountains with the new Cabot School.
How do we not test our drinking water we supply to our kids every year? It can’t be that expensive to do so. I did it with my house for under $150. So for 10K a year we could test every site in Newton, perhaps a bit more if multiple sources at each site.
I’m assuming we are going to do so going forward.
Newton should be better than this crap. For shame on the generations of mayors, Park and Rec Staff, and Alderfolk who let this happen.
And release the actual levels. Now.
“proactively test” is a true misnomer. How can testing 7 water fountains be proactive when it was only done after learning of one that had elevated lead levels? Seems more reactive. Then waiting to the end of June to turn off the others. Families at Cabot Park, Gath Pool and Crystal Lake had been drinking from those fountains for weeks after May 17.
If you or your family like having water fountains in public parks, fill out the survey since that is basically what it asks. Otherwise my guess is they will just be taken out.
We found out this spring, after Burr tested high, that Burr School has had high lead tests going back to 1985. Up until now, nobody outside of WN and Auburndale has been paying too much attention. But the Burr community has been well-organized and diligent in pushing NPS and the city to be open and transparent not only about Burr’s testing history, but the rest of the schools as well as the playgrounds and fields. This is only going to get worse.
Fig brings up an important point – lead levels in homes. Definitely worth $150 for the testing.
@Jane: Agreed. I had our water tested for lead when we first moved in 13 years ago, and the test results came back that there were no problems.
I also had the radon level tested in our home and that was found to be high so now we have a radon abatement system in place… high levels of radon can lead to lung cancer. So I highly recommend getting that tested as well.
From the April 28, 2016 Budget Report: The Committee requested an update on the testing of water quality in schools and for
residents. DPW is in the process of submitting final samples for testing. Although DPW has tested in
recent years, they are now looking for lead that may have entered the water stream as a result of work
being done in surrounding areas. DPW has identified areas more likely to have lead and will address
those areas first. Residents are able to purchase test kits at any point. There is a 0% interest MWRA
loan program that will cover some of the costs in testing for lead pipes. The loan is paid back in 10%
increments per year. DPW will pursue these funds when they become available however as MWRA is
not allocating per community, there is no estimate for funding.
I thought they were called bibblers in Massachusetts?
bubblers
I brought this up months ago as happening, right here on V14. We at Newton H2O brought up the point that the City does not do random residential/commercial water testing (esp for lead), relying instead upon MWRA stats. Sure, the Public Facilities committee authorizes to spend millions on outflow waste sewer piping upgrades, but how about the source feed system? Trust that our leaders are doing their best with their limited knowledge, always with an eye on plausible deniability. Interesting that the corner office once again issues the press release at 4:30 on the Friday before the 3 day weekend! enjoy your water Newton…
BTW, the Cabot off-leash area has a running hose and kid’s pool – does lead affect canines the same way as humans? Keep your pets from drinking from the toilet bowl..
The audio from the Public Facilities Meeting when lead testing was discussed (April 28th) can be found here:http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/75216/2016.04.28_18.59_01.MP3.
Water/lead testing discussion begins near 33:33 beginning with questioning from Cheryl Lappin and then continues with further questioning from Vicki Danberg at around 46:00. Fairly specific information on the process of lead testing occurs during Vicki Danberg’s questioning including a statement that the City had identified lead services and was contracting out to work on those lead services.
We at Newton H2O assert that Newton’s Elster Amco water meters are under reading at the low flow rates; the new tier rate-payer system exacerbates the problem, in failing to capture true water usage, and the quality of the water citywide is in question. Are we being proven correct?
I’m going to suggest a fairly radical solution, but why do we have public fountains at all? At the very least, they’re a great way to spread colds and the flu. Not to mention, the unsavory possibilities for what could happen to them from animals to teenagers being bad boys. I grew up in the 1950’s with a no-rules kind of mother, but even back then I was taught that you drink out of a public fountain only as a desperate measure. Maybe it’s time for the fountains to go altogether.
I strongly second Fig’s assertion that Newton deserves better leadership than this. The bottom line is that this is a problem which should have been addressed proactively rather than the inexcusable reactive action that we’re seeing from this Administration. The simple fact is that the second it was discovered levels at Burr were actionable, 100% of public fountains in Newton should have been immediately tested and those results should be clearly communicated to residents using every means available. Given that the Mayor hasn’t even discussed this very serious issue on his mayoral Facebook page – which thousands of residents rely on for such information – how confident are we that this is happening? Furthermore, given that it’s summer, while residents are unaware that the fountains may be shutoff, the City should provide bottled water at all public parks.
How do we know that the water in our homes are safe??? The city should be testing the water that is coming into our homes. Where is all this lead coming from?? Is the city planning on doing comprehensive testing before we become Flint Michigan.
And where was this letter originally posted?
I received it by email, and also got a robocall, both late yesterday afternoon. It’s posted on the city website.
Let me get this straight. Since the Mayor appears to be selectively choosing how to communicate the fact that some of our public water supply is poisoned, why would he not use every avenue possible to rely this information to residents? For instance, why wasn’t it ordered that signs be placed at each and every public fountain so as to put people on notice?
Love the 4pm email on the Friday of a holiday weekend….classy.
We never received a robo call from the city.
Does anyone know who initiated the testing of the Family Access fountain and why? Was it someone in DPW? Just that site for some reason? Or was it a parent or park user, paying out of their own pocket?
I’ve asked elsewhere but no one seems to know.
My understanding is that, after the information about Burr became public, the director of Family Access (formerly Davis Elementary School) decided independently to test all their fixtures, including the outside water fountain. Two (mostly unused) sinks tested high for lead, and the outside water fountain tested high for both lead and copper.
So I guess maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to want to get rid of those plastic water bottles?
I haven’t had a sip from a public fountain in years. Limit my intake of water from the tap to boiling water for pasta.
The city is “proactively” testing now that lead has been found in public school faucets and public drinking fountains(technically a former public school).
You just have to shake your head at the absolute temerity of public officials to try to spin their way out of negligence.
One might ask the questions from CAO Dori Zaleznik, an MD, past health commissioner, and one who use to contribute to this and other blogs – what did she know, when did she know, and what did she do about it? Or was it a case of bound ethics vs. political plausible deniability..
On that note, I’m reaching out to Dr. Zaleznik, the Department of Public Health, and the Newton Housing Authority to find out whether the city has recently tested the lead levels at any or all city owned public housing projects. Given that many of those who live in our public housing can’t afford independent testing nor the price of bottled water, let’s hope that Mayor Warren is being truthful about his proactive response to this.
One might also question the H2O quality of the older schools which were given up, like the Emerson, Weeks, Peirce, etc..
least we forget the old Day Jr. High, begat the Ed Center, encompassing the pre-K kiddies, the school committee, school administration, superintendent, etc. We had that water brought in especially for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ7ZuPTc09E
How can we be sure our home water is OK? Why are they not testing our water too?
As a regular swimmer at the Gath pool, I am concerned about the how the City is dealing with the water problem there. A water cooler was brought in and countless bottles of water are being used. And I can not even count the amount of plastic cups being used and tossed away. The cost to the City has to be excessive for the water and the cups. Although I understand why having water there is a good thing, I think people ought to bring their own. And I think the cooler, water and cups should be for the staff only.
I am very concerned about the more recent findings of lead in the water . It was bad enough that it was found at elevated levels at the Burr School. I will be working to get more details as well to see if Newton residents should be getting their own water tested. I wasn’t aware that an external drinking fountain at Family Access also tested high for lead back on May 17th until this recent announcement. The letter from the Superintendent that went out regarding the Burr School on May 18th did not mention it, nor did any other updates that I saw.
@Jane, You can get the flu from shaking hands or touching a surface (viruses like the flu can last a couple of hours on surfaces like tabletops or doorknobs). Water flows in an arc in water fountains and letting them run a few seconds will likely wash away any germs. I have always been a big supporter of public water fountains (lead free ones) and I have been after the City to keep our fountains clean and in good working order. I have not been so successful on that end. Almost always I find a number of them non-working in my Ward. Even better are bottle water filling stations so people can refill their reusable water bottles. I dislike the expense and plastic waste associated with bottles water.
And we will never know if there was lead in the old Angier
Lets fix the LEAD IN OUR WATER before we waste time arguing about plastic water bottles. One would hope that our Councilors would get their priorities straight – First lets make sure that we dont have another FLINT MICHIGAN before we waste time arguing about Plastic Water bottles. Lets hope our Councilors put their ENERGY toward making sure that we dont have lead in the water coming into our homes – as we already know it is in our schools and drinking fountains at our parks. One can only hope -and if that doesn’t work maybe someone in this city should file a class action lawsuit against the city and then maybe the Mayor and the Councilors will put their ENERGY towards figuring out where this LEAD is coming from. And before Councilors waste time banning Plastic Water bottles they should be figuring out the toxicity of the water we have coming into our homes and schools and FIX IT.
@Joanne – The water coming to your home is provided by MWRA, which does perform regular testing and results show high quality water with low contaminant levels. Although the water coming to your house is OK, the problem often arises from the service line from the street to your house, which might contain lead. There are instructions on line to help you determine if you have a lead service line. But even if you don’t, sometimes the solder in the pipes might have lead. So the best way is to just test your water from your tap. Again, an online search can pull up numerous labs in the state that will test your water for you. We had ours tested and cost was around $20. Lots of info on MWRA website too.
NEWBIE – Who provides the water going into the schools and into the Parks??
We all know that the water coming into Newton is from the MWRA, and it’s lead-free when it leaves the MWRA. If water is testing high in a municipal building OR in a private home, the most likely source is plumbing within the building/home or the service line into the building/home. When our kids were babies (almost 20 years ago) we had our water tested for lead. If it had been high, we would have done whatever remediation to our plumbing or service line was required to fix it. The issue is that the city did limited testing, and then did the least it possibly could in terms of remediation.
Thanks Tricia – My Point Exactly- it seems that with Burr it is coming from the Street Pipes – most likely for the parks it is also coming from the Street pipes too . Hmm – I wonder if we start testing the houses if it will be also coming from the street. So when is the CITY going to start looking at the pipes in the street??? Maybe our Councilors should be focusing on that instead of banning plastic water bottles which right now seems to be the only safe place in Newton to get SAFE DRINKING WATER.
Allison – In my experience working in a public buildings in two states and 3 communities for 42 years, public fountains are gross. I’m with TWT – people should tote their own water from a tap that’s been tested. Reusable containers solve the environmental concerns. I’d vote for shutting them all down and coming up with a healthier solution.
@Joanne – ALL public water in Newton, whether in your home, in a school, or from a water fountain in a park, is provided by the MWRA. It is free of lead when it comes into town so any contamination must be at a point after that. It could be an old pipe, or could be solder or from a part in the fixture.
http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/04water/html/qual6leadinfo.htm
Understanding Newton politics, the multi-faceted dynamics, sometimes prevents professionals from doing their job. The corner office forms opinion & strategies based upon intelligence biased by what they want to hear.- Or the employee faces job termination. Take for instance this previous employee: http://www.brooklinema.gov/460/Water-Sewer
So if the lead is coming from the pipes in the street – isn’t the City responsible for that? At Burr it is coming from the streets – what about the parks?
You say that based on what?
By Jonathan Dame
@JDameTAB Posted Jun. 24, 2016 at 8:00 pm Updated Jun 28, 2016 at 2:20 PM
The latest round of water tests at Burr Elementary School found elevated levels of lead in the main service line entering the school, and in water coming out of the pipes at two of seven water fountain locations.
Interesting. That still leaves the main service line, however. And one has to wonder why the other five locations wouldn’t test high also.
At Burr, they are operating under the theory that the source is the service line, not the main. There’s a difference between the “main line” and the “service line”. My understanding is that the water main (the big main pipe that usually runs down the street) is the city’s responsibility. The service line (the pipe that connects a building to the main line) is the building owner’s responsibility. So in the case of the school or the park fountains, sure, the city is responsible for all of it in the end. But for private residences, the issue could be coming from a fixture (faucet), a pipe or connection in the house, the service line, or theoretically the water main. So the first step is to test the water at the faucet. If it’s high, you work your way out to find the source.
As to why some locations would test high and others not if the source is the service line – if it’s a lead service line, or if there is lead solder in connections somewhere, over time little bits of material break off. If that’s the case, then they could test again today and get different results from different locations – just luck of the draw (so to speak.)
I’ve been in contact with both Dr. Zaleznik and Dr. Youngblood about this issue as it relates to Newton public housing. Although I’m yet to get the specific information that I’m looking for (whether the City is being proactive and testing the water supply for lead in Newton public housing), I’ll keep everyone updated as the answers that I get from them could be relevant to many of the questions raised throughout this thread.
9 more schools had water test above actionable levels for lead in at least one fountain or sink, according to new results released yesterday, after more extensive testing was done earlier this month. First, it was just Burr – a single school issue. Then it was outdoor fountains too – but those can be turned off and people should bring their own water anyway, right? Now that it’s 9 more schools including one built in the last decade, will people start paying attention?
http://newton.wickedlocal.com/news/20160718/water-in-nine-more-newton-schools-tests-high-for-lead
High lead levels at NNHS indicate that the source of the problem may not be the pipes in or leading into the schools. If I had young children, I’d have the water in my home tested.
And yet, the remediation plan is to simply replace the fixtures and then test again.
In the wake of the Burr results, many families in this community have had their water tested or retested; hopefully this will spur more families across the city to do so.
And we will never know about the Old Angier and how much lead the kids drank there
Has anyone recently had their home water tested? If so, to what result?
On a similar note, I’ve been in contact with Amy Sutherland, who is Executive Director of the Newton Housing Authority. I specifically reached out to ask that the Newton Housing Authority test the water for lead at all public housing units or at minimum canvass said units so as to sufficiently put residents on notice. I emphasized to both Ms. Sutherland and City leadership, based on a childhood of living in Newton Public Housing, how unique a population relative to this potential issue we are dealing with. For example, most of my childhood we could not afford to pay the phone bill, so we would not have received the robocall that the City of Newton sent out. Furthermore, no one that I grew up with at Hargrave Circle read the newspapers nor did we have computer access to receive e-mails. Moreover, it goes without saying that those of our residents in public housing who don’t speak good english are not able to interpret these types of messages if they even get them in the first place. I also pointed out that we relied on our faucet water for everything from drinking to cooking and everything in-between. Ms. Sutherland took about a week to get back to me, and her response was that she has only now begun a conversation with the City of Newton. Not swift action, but a conversation. (And keep in mind how relatively cheap and efficient it would be to test all Newton public housing units.)
In Newton, we potentially have a very serious public health threat. In Newton, we also have a particularly vulnerable community of residents who live in public housing who may be necessarily difficult to communicate with for a variety of reasons, some of which I’ve highlighted here. Given that there are many kids and elderly individuals who live in Newton public housing, I find it alarming that the Newton Housing Authority is yet to document action steps taken. To learn more about what exactly the Newton Housing Authority is doing, I’ve reached out to Chairman Richard Kronish to obtain minutes from past meetings, but I’m yet to hear back from him.
In the Mayor’s own words, “I believe that governance in our city must be innovative, effective, efficient, inspire partnership & confidence.” Given that I’ve CC’d him and his team to many of my e-mails and am yet to hear back, the opposite of partnership and confidence is inspired.