In November, officials at San Benito High School notified staff
and students that a routine water test came back positive for
coliform and instructed people not to drink water from the drinking
fountains.
Two weeks later, some are still afraid to drink water or wash
their hands.
In November, officials at San Benito High School notified staff and students that a routine water test came back positive for coliform and instructed people not to drink water from the drinking fountains.
Two weeks later, some are still afraid to drink water or wash their hands.
The positive test was due to a ruptured water feed Sunday, Nov. 16, and SBHS’ water supply was cleared of coliform by Thursday, Nov. 20, said Steve DeLay, director of operations and finance.
“We shut off water to the drinking fountains and sent out a memo saying people could not and should not drink the water,” DeLay said. All classrooms, lounges and offices were supplied with bottled water.
Coliforms are “a group of closely related, mostly harmless bacteria that live in soil and water as well as the gut of animals,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site.
Coliform is “found everywhere in nature,” according to an official with the county’s Environmental Health Department. There are two types of coliform – those found in nature, like in dirt, and those we breathe in that make their way into our intestinal tract. E. coli is found in the intestinal tract and is the version that leads to illness.
“If you find coliform in well water, it’s an indicator that it’s open to any contaminant,” the health official said. “It’s an indicator organism – it indicates that the water system is open to contamination.” Ingesting coliform is not dangerous unless it is E. coli, he said.
DeLay insists E. coli and fecal coliform were not found in the water – those two tested negative both before and after coliform tested positive.
The ruptured water feed occurred Sunday, Nov. 16 near the school’s band room. Water was shut off so the line could be repaired. Monday, officials came to perform the monthly water test. They wanted to test the water that had been shut off, so SBHS officials had to turn the water back on for the test, DeLay said, without flushing out the line.
DeLay is sure the water’s positive test for coliform was due to dirt that fell into the water while it was being repaired.
Local and state regulations require schools to notify local and regional health departments, which DeLay did Tuesday, Nov. 18.
SBHS officials were notified of the coliform Tuesday, Nov. 18. By Thursday, Nov. 20, five areas were tested and all came back negative, DeLay said.
“My feeling is that this was not a crisis. A day-and-a-half later, we had it cleared up,” he said. “My personal opinion, I don’t think anyone was in harm’s way at all.”
The last positive test SBHS experienced was more than seven years ago, DeLay said. SBHS was on bottled water for about a month.
“The difference (this time around) is that we knew exactly what the source was, we knew exactly why it happened,” he said.
The EPA requires all public water systems to monitor for coliforms. If coliforms are found, the public water system must be further analyzed to determine if specific types of coliforms, like fecal coliforms or E. coli, are present, according to the EPA Web site.
Schools test their water once a month for a variety of chemicals, including coliform. In addition, they test for lead, copper and MTBE in less frequent intervals, DeLay said.
SBHS officials have now turned to another problem – why the school has had five water lines break in the last five weeks. While they are still investigating the cause, DeLay said he thinks there is too much pressure in the school’s well.
For more information on water testing or coliforms, visit www.epa.gov.
