Students have been banned from drinking tap water at several Toronto schools after tests detected high levels of lead.
The Toronto District School Board is providing bottled water and has alerted parents after drinking water at five schools showed elevated amounts of the heavy metal.
At one of the schools, Victoria Park Collegiate Secondary, lead levels were four times the provincial standard.
Charles Gordon Senior Public School also contained high amounts.
The schools, along with several others in the city, originally tested high for lead during the summer.
A second round of sampling in the fall showed water at some of the schools contained less lead than previous tests had revealed.
"A handful of schools came back as a problem (after summer testing), and then when the second test was done, they came out fine," TDSB trustee Scott Harrison told CTV.ca.
But more than a month into the school year, the TDSB is still waiting for secondary results for the five institutions.
Until then, the tap water ban will remain in effect -- and, as Harrison explained, patience doesn't come cheap.
"It's costing the school board thousands of dollars to use bottled water," Harrison said.
According to reports, the board has been shipping about 1,500 bottles of water a day just to supply Victoria Park Collegiate Secondary, located on the city's northeast end.
Harrison says provincial water safely regulations fail schools because they only require pipes be flushed while the institutions are occupied.
Often, schools are empty during the summer months -- and unused water can sit stagnant in old pipes, accumulating lead.
"(The Clean Water Act) has got a bit of a bug for schools," Harrison said.
"I think the water testing needs to be done when the schools are being used, or next year, at the same time, we'll have the same problem again."
