Students who entered the Tribe, Warrior, Renegade, Health Academy or Tomahawk buildings this week observed a flyer above the bathroom sinks reading ‘DO NOT USE,’ urged instead to use temporary hand sanitizer bottles. According to English teacher Kelly Meahl, this occurred after a student reported a reddish discoloration of the water on Tuesday.

“I first noticed on Tuesday afternoon during seventh period,” said Meahl. “One of my students reported that the water coming out of the water fountain was brown.”

Since then, Seminole’s administration has taken appropriate safety measures, such as closing off all access to sinks and water fountains, while they investigate the source.

Some students and teachers initially believed the water’s discoloration was the result of contaminated water, while others hypothesized that it is due to a water main break from the construction on H. E. Thomas. Assistant principal Dr. Michelle Backel favored the second hypothesis.

“[The construction on the road] jiggled some pipes and some dirt came loose,” said Backel.

Coincidentally, schools in Brevard county saw a change in water color as well; however, this was due to the county’s annual flushing of fire hydrants. This is not SHS’s first time dealing with contaminated water in recent memory; the same issue arose in 2016 and 2017, when the water main for the Tribe and Warrior buildings burst.

Students that depend on water fountains have struggled without water. To better serve the 3000 students at SHS, administration announced that they would be providing water in cups to students at the front office and in each building office.

However, of today, Dr. Backel states that the situation has been cleared and that it is safe for student use.

“The water should be safe now, but you can take a precaution by letting it run first,” said senior Elizabeth Agranovsky.