N.W.T. gov't rolls out suite of changes for Yellowknife schools with lead in drinking water

The N.W.T. government will replace all the drinking fountains at École William McDonald Middle School and Range Lake North School in Yellowknife, as part of a suite of measures to address the issue of lead contamination in drinking water.

On Wednesday, the territorial government announced the replacement of all "fountains and fixtures" used for drinking water or food preparation at the two schools. It also said water at both facilities will be tested regularly.

At William McDonald, activated carbon filters that remove lead will be added everywhere water is used for food or drinking. The territory said it isn't looking at replacing pipes at the school.

At Range Lake North, the territory is installing an automated flushing system so water doesn't sit in the pipes accumulating lead.

A do-not-consume order remains in place for the two schools' water at this time. The territory said it still doesn't know what's caused the lead contamination.

The new measures come a couple months after the territory disclosed high levels of lead in the drinking water at both schools, and as the beginning of the new school year looms. The territory first detected lead in the schools' drinking water in January, and the revelation of high lead levels in May touched off a storm of questions about why it took so long to notify parents, students and staff.

That prompted the territory to commission an independent investigation that found the government had failed to understand the health implications of the situation.

The territory said Wednesday that it's developing a plan to test all schools, with some being prioritized based on the age of the facility, the ages of students, existing water quality data and initial sampling results.