Water Quality and Lead in Water
Water Quality – Two sources of Mountain Fresh Water
Our Elementary and Secondary Campuses along with our District Office and Bus Barn use water from the Butte Falls City water system. The source is Ginger Springs which is located in the hills southeast of the town. The water requires minimal treatment and the city water distribution system (pipes and valves are relatively new). Our Natural Resource Center has direct water connection to one of the Medford Water Commission’s massive pipes that transport over 10 million gallons from the Big Butte Watershed four miles east of Butte Falls to the Medford area each day. The Medford lines run adjacent to the Natural Resource Center. Thanks to a grant from the Carpenter Foundation, water lines were replaced at the NRC in 2019.
Lead in Water Testing
Lead can enter drinking water when service pipes that contain lead corrode, especially where the water has high acidity or low mineral content that corrodes pipes and fixtures. The most common problem is with brass or chrome-plated brass faucets and fixtures with lead solder, from which significant amounts of lead can enter into the water, especially hot water. In recent years, construction methods have reduced the amount lead. Even so, new fixtures can still contain trace amounts of lead.
In 2016 our School District conducted a comprehensive survey of all fixtures at the Elementary and Secondary campuses as well as our District Office. As we bring our Natural Resource Center online, we will test every fixture to ensure safe drinking water for students, staff and patrons. Each year we randomly test a small number of fixtures across the district. We will follow our six year retest schedule for all fixtures.