The water is now safe to drink in the Science Building at SUNY Buffalo State, according to Steven Shaffer, manager for design and construction at the college.

Last semester the bacteria levels in the Science Building were dangerously high and there were signs posted around water fountains warning students not to drink the water.

Since then, the college has been working with Special Pathogens Laboratory, a consultant they hired, to figure out ways to lower the bacteria levels.

“We hired them a couple months ago and they’ve been testing the waters and from that, recommending changes that need to be made,” Shaffer said.

He also added that there are three different water systems in the Science Building and each system is being treated differently; the campus is taking steps to modify them upon further testing.

The college held a meeting Friday, Sept. 26 to discuss any possible updates on the process and to hear what Special Pathogens Laboratory came up with for recommendations.

Several evaluations from the meeting are that the water in the building is no longer harmful to drink, the faucet water systems meet all requirements and that the situation is now “primarily for researchers for their experiments,” Shaffer said.

In the past students have said that the water interfered with the way they conducted experiments in their classes. The bacteria water made it unsafe to wash their equipment and difficult to work on their labs in class.

Gloria Bolivar, freshman biology major, said now that’s not the case.

“We are able to clean what we use in chemistry lab, but were just told not to drink that water,” Bolivar said.

Jennifer Abby, sophomore early childhood and childhood education major, also said she was aware of the signs around the building.

“I knew you weren’t supposed to drink the water, but I wasn’t too sure about all the reasons why,” Abby said.

There still are signs around the Math and Science building warning students not to drink the water. However, recent testing shows the levels off bacteria have significantly dropped.

Shaffer said that students shouldn’t worry and new testing will continue until the water is no longer an issue with those conducting experiments in the building.

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