Nile Garden students will be able to refill water bottles from campus faucets for the first time in 11 years when school starts Aug. 4.
Students and staff since 2014 have been supplied with bottled water.
It’s because the water well that serves the rural south Manteca campus had repeatedly violated the maximum contaminant levels for both arsenic and 1,2,3-trichloropropane.
“The (City of Manteca) did the school a solid,” noted Manteca Unified School District Director of Facilities and Operations Aaron Bowers.
That’s because the water coming to the campus in the next few days will be from a water line extended from the city’s water system ahead of a new water well being completed.
The school district a decade ago secured a state grant for safe drinking water to replace the contaminated well.
But because it would have had to operate it as a municipal well — something the district has no experience or desire to do — the City of Manteca teamed up with the district and took the lead.
The $4.8 million project includes developing a well on the southeastern side of Charles Palmer Park on Sephos Street as well as extend the transmission line to the school.
The city made sure the 6,500 foot — or roughly 1.2 miles — of a 4-inch transmission line was completed before the start of school as the water well intended to supply the school is not finished.
The State Water Resources Control Board has agreed to reimburse Manteca for the project from the Safe and Affordable Drinking Act bond proceeds.
The new well will include an arsenic treatment system.
The elementary school was recently expanded to serve 1,266 students is outside Manteca’s city limits. More than 90 percent of its student body resides in Manteca proper.
The City of Manteca teamed up with the Manteca Unified School District to secure a $5 million state grant to deliver potable water to the campus.
Nile Garden started using bottled water 11 years ago when tests showed that the water being pumped from a well no longer met newer federal standards for arsenic.
The previous standard was 50 parts per billion in terms of volume. It was reduced to 10 parts per billion.
Arsenic occurs naturally. Experts have said it would take arsenic levels “about 100 times” higher than what they are now to cause sickness.
The EPA edict has been described by some experts as being “extreme” caution.
The district will determine if it will be more effective to use the existing well for the fire suppression system on the campus or to rely on the municipal water system once the campus is connected with it. There are no nearby fire hydrants currently at the rural campus.
The existing well at Nile Garden will continue to be used for irrigation to avoid using much more expensive treated city water for that purpose.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
