Acting solely with an abundance of caution, and with the new school year approaching, Mayor Michael Melham last month asked township engineers to conduct water samples within the eight public schools in Belleville. And, thank goodness, the results are back, showing no indication of lead or other contaminants in the drinking supply.
Following the news of lead in Newark’s water, Melham directed the township engineer’s office to conduct a study of all eight schools, including Belleville High School, Belleville Junior High School and Schools 3,4,5,7,8,9 and 10.
Engineers collected water samples in the kitchens, bathrooms and water fountains of the schools, which were then sent to a lab for a full analysis. Township officials recently received the results, assessed and peer-reviewed the data, and are now reporting there is absolutely no issue of concern.
Township Engineer Thomas Herits, who is also the licensed water operator for the Belleville Water Department, explained the lead results were either “ND,” showing no detection of any lead, or extremely below any contaminant levels that would prompt concern.
Herits noted there are no lead service lines in the schools and, as such, there is no need to provide water filters.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.