cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/14885034

"Oakland Unified School District began this school year with some unsettling news: the drinking water in the district’s schools had tested positive for dangerously high levels of lead.

The district had found high levels of lead in the water during tests conducted over spring and summer, but it didn’t share those results with parents and staff until this August.

Lead testing hasn’t been required in California schools for the last five years. That means Oakland Unified is unusual among California school districts in that it knows that there’s a lead problem at all."

Hurricane Helene’s flood waters may have contaminated drinking water across western North Carolina. Residents with overtopped wells must boil and test the water before concluding it’s safe.

Access to water and sanitation are recognized by the United Nations as human rights – fundamental to everyone’s health, dignity and prosperity. However, billions of people are still living without safely managed water and sanitation.

Marginalized groups are often overlooked, and sometimes face discrimination, as they try to access the water and sanitation services they need. Governments must take a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to water and sanitation improvements, so that no one gets left behind.