In the News: OLLU Students Bring Water Testing to West Side Homes
Updated: 3 hours ago
When an older adult welcomes us into their home, they’re trusting us. We’re grateful for that trust and for the opportunity to work alongside Our Lady of the Lake University to help our neighbors learn more about their home’s water quality.
KENS 5 recently featured this partnership, now in its second year. About 40 OLLU biology students visited West Side homes and collected water samples from household faucets and outdoor spigots to test for potential contaminants, including lead, heavy metals and harmful bacteria.
Access to safe, reliable water is an important part of a healthy home. Some residents shared that they had stopped drinking tap water and switched to bottled water because of concerns about its quality.
“They want to find the results to see if they can go back to drinking tap water,” BHT Executive Director Jaillin Diaz Lopez told KENS 5.
According to the report, samples tested through the project so far have not detected contaminants.
For students, the partnership offers an opportunity to put their education into practice while getting to know the community they’re serving.
“I’m so grateful I go to a university that doesn’t just stick the education in the classroom but I get to go out and apply my education,” OLLU freshman Isabella Madarang told KENS 5.
We’re proud to share this story and grateful to the OLLU students and faculty, our community partners and the older adults who welcomed us into their homes. Their participation makes this work possible and strengthens the connections that help our neighbors age safely in place.
Source: KENS 5. Quotes and photo are from its reporting.
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