EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Gadsden Independent School District (GISD) is installing “advanced water filtration systems” at some of their southern campuses ahead of instruction beginning next week.
According to GISD, they have already had the systems installed at three of their campuses:
Santa Teresa Elementary School
Santa Teresa Middle School
Santa Teresa High School
By Wednesday, July 31 GISD expects to have the systems installed at Riverside and Desert View elementary schools, as well as Sunland Park Pre-K.
The systems were installed by Waterhouse out of El Paso, and they consist of a “multi-stage filtration system” that will ensure that their water is free from contaminants and safe to consume and use for food preparation.
According to a press release by GISD, the stages are as follows:
• 30-micron sediment filtration
• 5-micron sediment filtration
• Solid block carbon filtration
• Reverse osmosis membrane
• Post carbon polishing filtration
• Ultraviolet light purification
According to the district, the filtered water will be available at various points across campuses including water fountains, water bottle fillers, water coolers, ice machines, and pot filling stations in the kitchens.
Gadsden ISD Superintendent Travis L. Dempsey said their goal is to make parents feel “safe” sending their kids to school.
“We thought, ‘What can we do to help calm parents and be a partner in this situation?” said Dempsey.
He added that they first tested the systems at Santa Teresa Elementary School for several months before going all in.
“We were very impressed with it, went through an RFP process, then when that RFP got awarded, we were able to roll that out over the summer,” said Dempsey.
Sunland Park and Santa Teresa are both served by the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority. The utility has been under fire in recent months for water quality issues. The utility says it has made big strides in correcting those issues.
“What I don’t want parents to do is be hesitant to send their child to school for fear of this, and I think this corrects that fear,” Dempsey said. “The one thing about our area, and this is really no one’s fault, but the reality is our area typically is going to need water to be treated when we bring it out of the ground and so with that, this just adds another level of safety and protections for our students and our staff.”
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