Canyon water predicament comes full circle

CATALDO — Canyon Elementary School’s water is back to flowing freely as the school announced earlier this week that recent test results from Panhandle Health District showed their water free of all contaminants for a second time.

School officials have been battling the issue since a routine water test taken back in October revealed the presence of E. coli, which was later traced back to the school’s reservoir tank.

Since then many attempts have been made to remedy the issue with a series of chlorination flushes and minor repairs to both the tank and its surroundings.

Of those attempts, many were unsuccessful early on, leading to a temporary school closure while more extensive measures were taken.

Kellogg School District Superintendent Lance Pearson explained the process that led to success saying, “We employed a company (Aquadrone) who drained the reservoir tank and sprayed and cleaned it with a chlorine solution. It took some time because we had to wait for the chlorine to dissipate before testing could resume.”

On Dec. 8, Canyon Elementary School Principal Jenny Ferreira announced that the school received their first clean water sample, but would choose to take extended precautions — allowing the water to be used for handwashing only, while awaiting a second clean sample before permitting students and staff to use the water for drinking and food preparation.

Results of the final water sample were received on Jan. 3, which again was found to be free of contaminants, leading to the school returning to full use of their water.

Principal Jenny Ferriera said that the school will still be required to monitor the issue closely. “Additional samples will be taken every four weeks to ensure our water continues to be contaminant-free,” she explained.

Pearson applauded Ferriera’s efforts saying that, “Principal Jenny Ferreira deserves a lot of credit for leading her staff and students through this with minimal impact to the learning environment. All the staff, students and parents at Canyon have been amazing in the manner they dealt with this adversity and should all be commended. Their ‘can-do’ attitude was sincerely refreshing.”

The two worked closely together in resolving the matter, which Pearson said he is glad to have behind him.

“This episode weighed heavily on me, so I am very, very relieved to have this issue solved,” he said.