BIE school drinking water safety focus of Tribal One, Tetra Tech project

Tribal One is working to ensure the safety of drinking water and water systems in schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education in five western states.

Tribal One Architecture and Engineering, LLC, and teaming partner Tetra Tech, Inc., are assessing school water systems in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon and South Dakota under a $1.4 million contract awarded by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Assessments of the water systems infrastructure at the schools will focus on lead, copper and PFAS contaminants in drinking water to ensure these systems meet Environmental Protection Agency standards as established by the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.

“Throughout this project, Tribal One and Tetra Tech will coordinate the effort to place key personnel in the field to conduct multiple school assessments over a wide area of the west,” said Zach Recine, Design Project Manager at Tribal One Architecture and Engineering. “Our team will manage the assessments and we expect to complete all reporting and documentation by the end of the year.”

Water assessments will be conducted in seven critical areas including the sources, transmission, distribution, storage, treatment and operations of drinking water in the schools as well as wastewater systems, water fire suppression and emergency response mechanisms.