Board of Trustees letter to parents 19 July 2021
Kia ora koutou,
The DCC is getting ready to lift the water restrictions that have been in place since the start of the school year. As part of their process they have carried out reassurance testing at Karitāne School. There have been two concerning results with high lead levels from our school - one from the staff bathroom tap and one from the kitchen tap (not the water filter). The DCC is confident that these results are localised to our system and that they are not coming from upstream in the supply. They have identified the most likely source of the contaminants as being from tapware, current pipes or pumps. Neither of the taps that provided the high lead samples are usually used for drinking water.
The Medical Officer of Health has received these results and has advised that we do not drink the water and liaise with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education (MoE) to identify appropriate actions to investigate and resolve this.
The DCC, Medical officer of Health and MoE have all been in contact and are working with us to ensure that our children continue to have access to safe drinking water. Steps to be taken are:
MoE will arrange for a specialist to review the information and advise on a remediation plan.
The recommended remediation will be undertaken to return the schools water supply to a safe and healthy standard.
The DCC will leave the current water tank on site to provide fresh clean water while remediation is undertaken.
This beginning phase of this work has already started. In the interim, please be assured that our protocols for ensuring that your children have access to safe drinking water once they return to school will remain in place. Nic and our Board chair, Jane Schofield are very happy to respond to individual queries or concerns. We will also share any developments or further information with you as they come to hand.
Kind regards, Karitāne School Board of Trustees