Drinking Water Quality of Seattle Public Schools: A Case of Environmental Equity

Abstract

The Flint water crisis brought national attention to the issue of toxicity in water sources that previously had been presumed safe. However, despite the widespread public outcry over the discovery of lead contamination in water, a significant amount of uncertainty remains around the quality and safety of publicly sourced drinking water throughout the United States. This research investigates the water-quality testing reports of the Seattle Public School District’s (SPS) Water Quality Program to answer two important questions: (i) What is the current state of drinking water quality in Seattle’s public schools? (ii) Does the district’s water quality represent an environmental justice problem in addition to a water quality problem? This research tests the hypothesis that the drinking water quality of Seattle’s public schools is not as safe as presumed by the City of Seattle’s record of compliance with the federal Lead and Copper Rule, and that factors that determine improvements in water quality reflect larger patterns of societal inequities.