A student at Banks High School reported feeling ill after drinking from a fountain earlier this week, describing the water as cloudy, full of visible sediment and strange-tasting. The school responded by shutting off every drinking fountain on campus and switching students and staff to bottled water while samples are tested for bacteria, metal and other contaminants.
The report came in on Wednesday, according to OregonLive.com, which detailed how the student described the water as “cloudy,” with “sediment visible” and a “strange taste.” A handful of other students also reported symptoms, Principal Jacob Pence said, including one who felt nauseous and vomited. Parents told Pence that their kids complained of headaches and said the water “was tasting funny.”
No one has reported seeking medical care in connection with the symptoms, per the same account. Still, the school moved quickly: a plumber inspected the water system, and the cafeteria stopped using school water for any food preparation that would bring it into direct contact with what people eat. Bottled water has been distributed campuswide, and as of Thursday, the test results had not yet come back.
What Might Have Caused It
One theory under consideration involves construction happening at the school site. The school's water was reportedly turned off and back on early Wednesday morning during work, and officials are looking into whether that disruption affected water quality. Pence said the precautions were being taken out of an abundance of caution, adding, “We don't believe it's a major issue.”
The Banks School District is coordinating with construction contractors and the City of Banks to check whether any work on the site could have impacted the water supply, according to the Banks Post. Bottled water will remain available to students and staff while testing is completed, the district said.
City Says Problem Is Not With Its Water System
Banks City Manager Jolynn Becker said any issue appears to occur “after the meter,” meaning it would be confined to school property rather than reflecting a problem with the municipal water system, the Banks Post reported. The city said it has not received any water quality complaints from elsewhere in Banks and is working with the school district on the matter.
Banks High School serves 370 students and sits about a 30-minute drive west of Portland. The building is in the middle of a major transition: a new high school is being constructed right next door, with classes set to begin there in August 2027.
How This Compares to Other School Water Scares
Water-quality shutdowns at schools are not unique to Banks. In Philadelphia, three drinking fountains at Mastery Frederick Douglass Elementary failed city-mandated lead tests in April, with one reading 350 times the district's 10-parts-per-billion limit, according to WHYY. That school shut off every fountain and set up jugs of filtered water throughout the building, and a University of Pennsylvania environmental-medicine physician urged that any school with lead-solder plumbing stop letting kids use fountains immediately, warning that lead levels can vary too much day to day for spot testing alone to be reliable.
Banks officials have not attributed the water complaints to any specific contaminant, and test results for bacteria, metal and other substances remain pending. Until those results return, the fountains stay off and bottled water remains the rule at Banks High School.
