Posted: Sept. 16, 2009 |(0) Comments

Muskego — The School Board last week approved a contract to install a system to remove nearly all of the arsenic from water at Lakeview Elementary School, 26335 Fries Lane. The move comes in response to the federal government slashing its acceptable limit for arsenic in water to trace amounts.

The $23,698 contract was awarded to low bidder Layne-Northwest Company.

The old standard had been 50 parts of arsenic per billion parts of water. The new standard is 10 parts per billion, Gary Rosploch, supervisor of buildings and grounds, told the board. Lakeview has been in the 20 to 21 range for decades, he said. Nothing has changed in the water at the school, only in federal regulations, he said.

Pilot testing this summer resulted in a lowering of the arsenic level to two to four parts per billion, Rosploch said. A brine absorbs the arsenic, he said. The brine will be disposed of periodically according to federal environmental protection regulations, he said.

Lakeview is the only school affected. It has its own well.

School officials have been working with the state Department of Natural Resources over the last year to come up with a solution. Blending the school water with clear water could not be done. That is why the removal system was the preferred option, Rosploch said.

Other schools and businesses also are struggling to meet the new standard. Superintendent Joseph Schroeder said one school district dug a new well at a six-figure cost, but the water quality still did not meet the new standard. Homes do not have to meet the standard, Rosploch said.

 

Jane Ford-Stewart