Letter to the editor: Recent editorial ‘disservice’ to students

Sacramento+State+has+released+the+results+from+its+comprehensive+test+of+its+drinking+water+sources+for+lead+contamination.%0A+43+sources%2C+around+five+percent%2C+were+found+to+be+above+the+EPA+action+level+of+15+parts+per+billion.+

Kameron Schmid - The State Hornet

Sacramento State has released the results from its comprehensive test of its drinking water sources for lead contamination. 43 sources, around five percent, were found to be above the EPA action level of 15 parts per billion.

Gary Rosenblum

To the Editor:

Your recent editorial (“When will Sac State stop doing the bare minimum in protecting students?” on Oct. 10, 2018) does a disservice to the students of our university by perpetuating the myth that our drinking water is “filled with lead.” Sacramento State has taken significant steps to provide what may be the most effective and transparent water-safety program of any university – public or private – in the United States.

At this time last year, testing for all 800 drinking water sources on campus was completed. The testing showed that all 800 were below the EPA limit for lead. Further, results were made public by the end of 2017 through Risk Management’s website. Even so, the University took the additional voluntary step, unique among universities in the United States, to label each drinking water source with a QR code so that any interested person could quickly see the exact test result for that specific fountain. These QR labels were installed on all 800 water sources in January 2018.

Sac State continues to test every water source on campus to ensure ongoing safety. So far this year, we have completed re-testing of 200 water sources – and again, every retested source came in below the EPA limit. The university is also investing in dozens of new fountains and filling stations for the campus with the goal of having at least one ADA-compliant filtered-water source on every floor of every building.

We do all this for the purpose of providing our students, faculty and staff with a safe university environment.

Sincerely,

Gary Rosenblum

Sacramento State

Associated Vice President

Chief Risk Officer