Tamaqua Area school board directors were updated on a number of projects during Tuesday evening committee meetings, including a handicapped accessible ramp, pipe inspection and water testing.

Superintendent Ray Kinder said water test results from one sink at West Penn Elementary School in 2019 revealed a slightly higher than recommended amount of lead. The school gets its water from a well.

It was the only water source at the school that tested positive for increased lead, and the sink was immediately put out of service. Parents were notified, he said.

Testing was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic when students learned remotely.

When classes resumed, the sink remained off limits.

Kinder said the district replaced the sink and fittings but when it was brought back online, it again tested for slightly higher lead levels.

“The water in the well is fine otherwise it would be throughout the building,” said Kenneth Dunkelberger, chief operations officer.

A district plumber believes the problem lies in a pipe that delivers water to the sink.

The sink was again decommissioned, and the district contacted the Department of Environmental Protection.

“We are already working forward to do what we need to do to be proactive,” Dunkelberger said. “We talked to DEP again today and they said, ‘Great job. Keep it up.’ Right now it’s just a matter of following the rules and regulations and just retesting.”

The building, he said, was constructed in the 1950s.

“You hate to say it but any old building like this with old pipe” is likely to have slightly elevated levels, he said.

Bottled water is available near the sink, and other sinks are just steps away, Dunkelberger said.

He said the district is looking at getting a filtration system for the school in the future.

“The rumor is that’s coming anyway in 3 to 5 years if you’re using your own water source like we are. We’re basically a municipal water source down there,” he said. “Sooner or later that is going to be the standard throughout the entire country. Let’s be proactive. You have old buildings, old pipes. Let’s precondition our water before it even hits the building.”

In addition, Kinder said that a project to install a ramp outside the high school cafeteria is underway. Contractors have roped off the area, and work should be complete within 30 days.

Kinder said that pipes underneath a first floor high school hallway will be inspected by crews in the near future. If the scan detects any problems, the pipes would be repaired this summer. The work would require ripping up the hallway for access.