December 04, 2003
Poison Water in Seattle Schools

The drinking water at Seattle's Wedgwood Elementary School is probably poisonous:

Since Wedgwood Elementary parents presented a bottle of sediment-laden, orange water to Superintendent Raj Manhas at a Seattle School Board meeting last month, rumors have swirled about polluted water flowing from the school's drinking fountains
The school's principal says that "no adult at Wedgwood drinks the water" and that
Teachers have refused to drink the water at the school for more than five years.
Nevertheless, the funding to upgrade Wedgwood's water system is not included in the school district's pending capital levy ballot proposal. Not to worry, the district's director of facilities and planning reassures us that
While "there's no question" Wedgwood's water isn't aesthetically pleasing, it's perfectly safe to drink
I will venture two predictions:
1) Seattle School District officials will not be drinking very much of that orange-colored sediment-laden Wedgwood water, no matter how "perfectly safe" it is.
2) Large numbers of Wedgwood parents will vote like good sheeple to approve the capital levy, no matter how badly they're being taken for granted.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at December 04, 2003 07:00 AM
Comments

I thought that when water got orange it was unsafe. Green or blue, and everything's cool.

Posted by: nic on December 3, 2003 10:08 PM

The perfect liquid accompaniment to the Simpsons' three-eyed fish, Blinky!

Posted by: James Morrow on December 4, 2003 02:57 AM

How is it that the Seattle Public Utilities Department has not been run through the wringer for this one? Nowhere have I seen any discussion of the source of this primordial ooze in the Wedgewood pipes. It's either in the City mains or on Wedgewood's side of the meter. In either case there are methods for flushing/disinfecting the pipe network - hell, you can run cameras through them to see what's built up, and where.

Too much accusatory flapdoodle and not enough practical waterworks.

Posted by: Insufficiently Sensitive on December 4, 2003 08:20 AM
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