POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County school leaders are waiting for the results of a third round of lead testing at Union and Winston Academies.
The two schools continue to have higher-than-normal levels of lead in the drinking water.
- Testing began last month
- Five oldest schools in district originally tested
- Results expected next week
Experts say high levels of lead in the body can cause problems with the brain, kidneys and bone marrow.
"We are going to assure that the water that they're drinking is safe," said Polk County Schools maintenance services manager Rory Lucy. "We're going to test as quick as we can."
The district first started examining lead levels last month. School officials selected five of the oldest schools for random water testing.
Initially, four of the schools showed higher levels. But after minor adjustments and repairs, only Winston and Union are still of concern.
Maintenance workers recently replaced fixtures to try and fix the problem.
"When we did the second round of testing, we hadn't started replacing components," Lucy said. "But between the second and third, those components have been completely replaced, the faucets, the bubblers, the water coolers, all the piping. Anything that goes back or enters the wall."
The third round of test results is expected next week.
"We're confident that when we conduct the test on these remaining five samples that they will come back cleared," Lucy said.
In the meantime, at Union and Winston schools, bottled water will continue to be supplied to students as a precaution.
Eventually all schools in Polk County will be tested for high levels of lead.