Robinson Elementary In Grand Haven Has Safe Water Again

This is such a wild story to write about. Grand Haven Area Public Schools announced that starting Monday, January 25th, they’re ready to turn the faucets on in Robinson Elementary for the first time since October 2018.

Back in 2018 GHAPS discovered that their water supply for Robinson Elementary tested positive for per- and PFAS. The school district then worked for almost 2 years with various state and local agencies and water filtration experts to find a solution that would get the approval of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy or EGLE as their mom calls them.

“Diligence, collaboration and innovation have brought us through this challenge,” says GHAPS Superintendent Andrew Ingall. “It has required cooperative leadership at all levels to find a solution that makes the water at Robinson safe. While the journey has been long, the outcome is certainly worth it.”

The filtration system the school went with is an “innovative ion filtration system” according to a press release and was installed last February. Throughout the last year, officials have been testing the filtration system and testing it for a variety of things including,

the water’s alkalinity, calcium content, chloride content, conductivity, pH, sulfate content, temperature, lead content, copper content and PFAS

Earlier this month Ottawa County Department of Public Health fully approved the new water filtration system and said the school can resume normal use of the water in the building, including drinking the water from bottle fill stations. GHAPS said they’ll continue to test the water regularly to make sure it safe, but will also still offer bottled drinking water for any students/families that request it.