324 of N.S.'s 370 public schools to receive bottled drinking water

The Nova Scotia government will begin providing drinking water to 324 public schools in January and will do so until lead testing in all public schools can be completed.

The testing began in September in response to changes made by Health Canada in March that lowered the acceptable level of lead in drinking water and introduced new testing guidelines.

The process is on hold over the winter because the guidelines dictate that testing be done in warmer weather.

"We want to make sure that during this time that everybody is provided with drinking water that they know is lead-free," said Education Minister Zach Churchill.

The plan is to supply 324 — or 88 per cent of the province's — schools with 18-litre jugs of water to the end of the school year. The expected cost is $1.7 million.

No safety risk in water at schools, says minister

Churchill said the decision doesn't mean there's a safety risk in the water at the schools.

"We've consulted with the chief medical officer in the province and he assured us that there isn't a health and safety concern," he said.

"But our goal in the Education Department is to make sure that people are learning and that we have a high-quality teaching environment, and when people are anxious about ongoing water testing, that doesn't help."

So far, the province has tested 86 of 370 schools, or about 23 per cent of schools.

Of those, 40 were found to have lead levels that exceeded Health Canada's guidelines. They have already been provided bottled water.

Forty-six schools had acceptable results and do not require outside water.

'Deal with that anxiety up front'

Churchill said the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and some members of the public have expressed concerns about water quality since the testing began.

"We just want to make sure that we deal with that anxiety up front during the months where we're not able to test, until we get all those test results back," he said.

The remainder of the testing will be carried out in the spring. The goal is to have all schools tested by the end of the school year.

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