When we first moved to Maryland, Patrick and I watched a movie called “Burn After Reading.” It takes place in DC and includes a line from Brad Pitt– it goes something like this: “Do you have anything other than Maryland swamp water to drink?”

The longer we live here, the more we notice problems with our water. Mainly, it’s smell. We threw away a bunch of towels thinking they rotted. But when we got new ones, we had the same problem. If I use a wash rag more than once, it smells moldy. We realize it’s the water. But we don’t know why.

The Associated Press (AP) has put together an interactive list showing schools with violations for contaminated water. You can click on any state and see which schools have been cited. Most schools have trouble with coliform, followed by lead and copper. This is alarming.

I also thought I may be able to figure out what’s wrong with my own water by looking at water trouble from nearby schools. Instead of hastily clicking on my state and focusing in on the violations, I first read about how the information was collected.

The AP discloses how they got this information. It’s important to note the information spans 10 years– from 1998 to 2008. So when I looked up my city, I found that two elementary schools have been cited for lead and copper. But the violations were between 1999 and 2000. I would have to assume the problem has been fixed in the past nine years. And the information only includes schools that operate their own water systems.

Plus– there is no way to tell whether my apartment building has the same water problems as nearby schools. I checked other schools in the DC Metro area. I had a hard time finding recent violations. I then checked the St. Louis area– where I grew up; and for problems in Southern Illinois where I lived for five years. Again, no recent problems.

I think this information is important to know, but people need to take a close look at when the violations occurred and what they mean.

I am extremely impressed with the interactive chart. Any question I had was answered and easy to find. BUT– and it’s in all caps for a reason– I could not find information for DC. I have heard of water problems in the city and I am interested to know about problems with water in its school. Perhaps it’s because DC is not a state? Even if the information is not available, or does not apply to schools in DC, I would appreciate an explanation.

Check for schools near you: AP Interactive Contaminated School Water

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