Below is a message from Harrisville Superintendent Rob Finster:
Dear Harrisville Families and Community Members:
I would like to reiterate our commitment to providing a safe environment for our students, which includes regular testing of water sources. As required by state law, Harrisville Central School District tested all water outlets currently or potentially used for drinking or cooking on Oct. 10, 2024. This testing must occur every three years, unless the state Commissioner of Health requires it sooner.
In 2022, the state set a stricter lead action level, reducing it from 15 parts per billion (ppb) to 5 ppb. Any outlets exceeding this level cannot be used for drinking or cooking until follow-up testing shows the lead levels are no longer above the action level.
The testing found a total of 10 fixtures in our school building exceeding the lead action level; 4 drinking fountains and 6 sinks. The stricter state standards have resulted in more affected fixtures than usual. Access to these fixtures has been temporarily closed until remediation is complete.
To address the affected fixtures, we will:
- Install water filters on two sinks to remove lead.
- Label one additional sink as “non-potable.”
- Place temporary “non-potable” signs on other affected sinks until we can remove them.
- Replace drinking fountains with filtered units.
We plan to replace impacted drinking fountains with new filtered drinking fountains and/or bottle-filling stations. These replacements are expected to be part of our 2025-26 Capital Outlay Project, if not replaced sooner. Until then, the affected drinking fountains will remain out of order.
For more information, I invite you to view the complete lead testing results and full remediation plan. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly at 315-543-2707, Ext. 7, or our Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds, Don Snider, at 315-543-2707, Ext. 9.
Thank you for your attention and support as we work to maintain a safe learning environment for our Harrisville school community.
Cordially,
Rob Finster
Superintendent