Elevated levels of lead were detected in water from five apartments in Buckeye Village, Ohio State University's family housing complex southwest of Ackerman Road and Olentangy River Road, university officials said today. All residents of the complex have been advised via email not to drink water from the taps, and Ohio State is providing bottled water. According to a university statement, OSU's Environmental Health and Safety department made the discovery during newly instituted testing of the water. Nineteen of about 400 units were tested.

Elevated levels of lead were detected in water from five apartments in Buckeye Village, Ohio State University's family housing complex southwest of Ackerman Road and Olentangy River Road, university officials said today. All residents of the complex have been advised via email not to drink water from the taps, and Ohio State is providing bottled water.

According to a university statement, OSU's Environmental Health and Safety department made the discovery during newly instituted testing of the water. Nineteen of about 400 units were tested.

Testing the tap water at selected residential buildings is a new "precautionary protocol," spokesman Chris Davey said. Buckeye Village and its associated child-care center were tested first because the apartments are relatively old � built between 1958 and 1962 � and because children live in the apartments and stay at the child-care center. Lead poisoning is of particular concern for infants, pregnant women and elderly people.

Further testing at Ohio State will focus on residential buildings constructed before 1992, when stricter building regulations regarding lead took effect.

Davey stressed that elevated lead levels were detected only from faucets that had gone unused for at least six hours. Four of the five affected units were unoccupied. Subsequent tests on the same faucets, after water was allowed to run for one to two minutes, showed no elevated levels.

Lead-contaminated tap water has been in the news since it was revealed that the city of Flint, Michigan's decision to switch its water source to the Flint River led to contaminated water and doubled the number of children with high levels of lead in their blood. Several state and local environmental, utility and health officials were charged criminally in the scandal.

In Ohio, officials of the Youngstown-area village of Sebring learned from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in in late 2015 that their public water contained potentially hazardous levels of lead, but they didn't notify residents until January. The former operator of the village's water system is facing criminal charges and a potential fine of more than $2 million.

Tests of water fountains in Granville Local Schools in Licking County in the spring found high lead levels. The school district replaced water-line valves to all drinking fountains in the district and replaced 21 water fountains.

mcedward@dispatch.com

@MaryMoganEdward