Health fears over quality of water at new schools

Mar 5 2009 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

SERIOUS questions were this week raised about drinking water quality at four new high schools.

Staff at the showpiece secondaries have complained that the water has an unpleasant taste and is, on occasions, a green-blue or yellow colour.

Representatives of the teachers’ union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, sent a sample of water from Hamilton’s John Ogilvie High School for independent analysis.

It found that concentrations of nickel were 50 per cent higher than the recommended guidelines.

Although low levels of nickel are not considered harmful, they have been blamed for allergies.

Experts say high concentrations of the metal can be toxic.

Yesterday (Wednesday) a council spokesman insisted that tests they had taken at the school showed that “the water was clear and there was no risk to health”.

However, Linzi Moore, secretary of the EIS’s 3500-strong South Lanarkshire Association, said they had instructed staff not to drink water at John Ogilvie, Calderside High, Blantyre; Holy Cross, Hamilton, and St Andrew’s and St Bride’s, East Kilbride, until they received satisfactory assurances about its safety.

The problem first appeared at the East Kilbride school in March of last year.

It surfaced at John Ogilvie in December and has been a cause of concern at Holy Cross over the past couple of months and Calderside during the last couple of weeks.

The yellow-coloured water in our front page photograph came from a tap at Calderside early last month... after the system had been flushed following complaints!

Similarly discoloured water was coming out the taps at John Ogilvie last Friday.

Staff at Holy Cross began raising concerns about the water there after they noticed that the inside of a kettle used there had a disturbing blue-green tinge.

Following the anxiety expressed by members, the EIS asked Glasgow Scientific Services to test samples of water taken from John Ogilvie and St Andrew’s and St Bride’s.

The lab found that levels of nickel in the John Ogilvie sample were 30.6 microgrammes/litre compared with the maximum prescribed limit of 20 microgrammes/litre.

Water taken from the East Kilbride school had traces of copper, nickel and micro-organisms above the recommended limit.

Ms Moore said: “It has health implications for our members and pupils.

“Any kind of metal in the water can lead to gastric problems and, long term, it could build up in the bloodstream and have serious health consequences.”

Staff at Calderside reported that in December a number of pupils complained of upset stomachs, but it is not clear whether this is attributable to the water.

Council chiefs responded to the complaints by flushing the pipework at the four schools and providing teachers at John Ogilvie and the East Kilbride school with bottled water.

Water coolers have been installed at Holy Cross and Calderside.

Ms Moore said the problem of water quality at the four schools was one of the main points of discussion at the South Lanarkshire Association of the EIS annual general meeting held in Hamilton on February 18.

They had asked for the results of council tests on the water to be made available to them.

The union last week received details of the latest tests which were carried out at the schools after their systems were flushed and appear to show that water is safe to drink.

However, Ms Moore said they remained concerned and added: “Discoloured water was still coming out of the taps at Calderside after they had flushed the system and said the water was now safe to drink.

“Staff there were furious and asked for water coolers to be installed.

“One was brought into the school, for use by staff and 1400 pupils, and it was drained in 10 minutes and not replaced.

“Staff there, as in all the four schools, are having to take in bottled water until this problem is resolved.”

Ms Moore continued: We want to know why the tests we commissioned are showing up problems and the tests carried out by the council appear to show that everything is clear.

“We also want the results of any tests carried out before the systems were flushed.”