A water treatment system has been installed at Condor School after routine testing revealed unsafe levels of bacteria in the water last June.
Since the chlorination system has been installed, the water was tested last Thursday and the Thursday before and both tests found the water to be clear of bacteria, said Wild Rose superintendent Brian Celli.
A third test is expected to be done today and if the test shows the water to be clear then school division officials will go to Alberta Health Services to determine what the next step will be.
At the moment, fountains in the school have been covered over and students are being given bottled water as a precautionary measure at the school, which is part of the Wild Rose Public Schools and located just north of Hwy 11 around 50 km west of Red Deer. Students can wash their hands with the water at the school, but they are being encouraged by teachers to use hand sanitizer afterwards.
Celli said the Wild Rose School Division also intends to install chlorination systems at two other schools in the division that are currently on wells, including the Leslieville School and David Thompson High School in Condor.
Celli said the school division has taken its time and acted as thoroughly as possible at the Condor School. “What we’re trying to do is make sure we do it properly. So we’ll be there and when we consider we’ve done it properly we’ll unbag the fountains and away we go,” he said.
Even after the Condor School fountains are uncovered, Celli said the school division plans to continue to do weekly water testing for the foreseeable future at the school.
In June, Condor School had to be closed down for a couple of days when routine testing revealed unsafe levels of bacteria in the water. The 150 students at the kindergarten to Grade 7 facility attended classes on those days at other facilities.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com