LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When it comes to lead in drinking water, the United States Environmental Protection Agency says lead is harmful to health, especially for children. 

What You Need To Know

  •  Pure Spout is an is an on-fountain filter system from the Louisville Water Comay

  • The filter system is made to replace the spout on a drinking water fountains 

  •  The product is intended to remove lead from the water

  •  The filtration system is about the size of a cellphone or a can of soda. It costs $195

The Louisville Water Company always does what it can to reduce lead exposure and make sure the city’s water is as safe as possible. The water gets tested over 200 times a day ensuring safety.

“When water leaves the treatment plant, it does not contain lead. But, what happens is, sometimes in older homes, in older structures that may have lead plumbing or lead solder somewhere, it could pick up some of that. We want to make sure we’re doing our part to help make sure customers get rid of the lead,” said Channa Newman, the community relations manager with Louisville Water.  

The water company has an active program that identifies pipes, service materials and works with customers to make sure water is safe. Mark Campbell is on the invention team and is one inventor of the Pure Spout. He said development began about 5 years ago.

“This is an on-fountain filter system,” Campbell said. “This filter system is made to replace the spout on a drinking water fountain that you would find in a school or a day care, child care facility. What it was intended to do is remove lead from the water.”

The EPA said even low levels of lead in the blood of children can cause lower IQs and behavior or learning problems. Lead is also harmful to adults.

“This was invented after we realized doing outreach and monitoring for lead in drinking water with schools around Louisville and Jefferson County. We saw that there was potentially a need for remediation. Occasionally, there would be some lead found in the drinking water at the water fountain. We were asked ‘Hey, what options do we have?’” Campbell explained.

The filtration system is about the size of a cellphone or a can of soda. Campbell said the system fits on water fountains, both new and old. The system costs $195.

“The water comes from the bottom, from the water fountain. It then ends up coming around the outside of the filter. The pressure from that line then pushes the water through the filter, so this is where the lead is removed. This is what captures and holds on tightly to the lead,” Campbell explained.

Campbell said the systems are already inside several schools in Louisville and the Jefferson County area and region.

“Some of the kids really do seem to prefer the fountains that have the Pure Spout. As far as how they’re working, everything seems to be going well,” Campbell said.

They recently rolled out a plan to sell Pure Spout nationwide and get it in as many places as possible.

Related Stories