Western continues water testing program at buildings on main campus

Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) at Western Washington University is in the midst of its water sampling program at buildings throughout the main campus in Bellingham.

Since 2008, Western EHS has taken additional steps to monitor the campus’ drinking water. While there is no federal law requiring universities to test their drinking water, Western determined it in the best interest of the campus community to test priority sites on campus.

Western’s Drinking Water Management Program covers all campus buildings with many locations already having been sampled.  Current monitoring efforts will prioritize the oldest locations on campus, which serve the youngest populations. The goal is to complete comprehensive university-wide sampling by June 2020.

EHS has sampled nearly 50 percent of locations thus far with approximately 94 percent of locations testing below the EPA action level. The EHS team have already contacted areas with results higher than the EPA action level to let them know what to do.  EHS and Facilities Management are working on a mitigation plan for these locations. 

Sampling results are posted on the EHS Drinking Water Management webpage.  For additional information on the water testing program please see this FAQ.