Memorial University is re-testing water in two buildings that had previously been given the all-clear, after a private St. John's laboratory gathered samples and did its own testing at MUN that it says raised concerns.

Petroforma Laboratories says it offered help to the university after a recent scare about lead in the drinking water at MUN, but was turned down.

"We offered that we could do up to $100,000 of free testing for the university, for a cash-strapped university, and they've just ignored us," Petroforma CEO Michael Hanrahan told CBC News.

Hanrahan acknowledges that Petroforma made the offer, at least in part, to help possibly drum up future business.

The St. John's-based company is certified for an array of toxicology testing and microbiology testing of water. According to Hanrahan, Petroforma expects to have metals in water added to the scope of its accreditation within weeks.

Memorial University shut down its St. John’s campus for two days, July 31 and Aug. 1, after announcing the discovery of lead in the water. (CBC) He says they went ahead with the testing anyway, sending employees who were MUN graduates to gather samples and bring them back to the lab.

"We have a lot of MUN alumni that work with us, we actually have spouses of our employees that work at MUN, and we have children of our employees that work at MUN," Hanrahan said.

"So we did have a legitimate and a scientific interest in what is the issue at MUN."

Samples gathered by Petroforma on Aug. 13 and Aug. 19 showed no problems with the majority of buildings tested, according to results provided by the company to CBC News.

Petroforma did find elevated levels of lead at buildings already cited by Memorial as a problem, such as the QEII Library.

But Petroforma also found high test results for lead in portions of two buildings currently flagged as all-clear by the university — the first floor of the arts and administration building, and the fourth floor of the science building.

2 areas to be tested

The university confirmed Wednesday afternoon that it is now testing those two areas, and had temporarily prohibited access to them.

MUN officials declined interview requests, and won't discuss the work done by Petroforma.

"We can't speak directly to any testing results if we are unaware of the methodology," the university said in an emailed statement.

"However, any time a concern is raised about the quality of our drinking water, we will investigate. Based on this report, we have initiated tests on all taps on the first floor of the arts and administration building and the fourth floor of the science building."

On Thursday, MUN confirmed that it began re-testing those buildings after inquiries from CBC.

The university initially did not address why it turned down the free testing offered by the local company.

In a follow-up email Thursday afternoon, MUN officials cited accreditation as an important issue.

"An accredited laboratory gives Memorial the assurance it needs that the results are credible, reliable and accurate," MUN said in a statement. "This allows us to make decisions with confidence that the results are held to the highest standard and verified by an independent third party."

Petroforma is accredited for many types of testing. The company stresses that its certification will include lead and other metals within weeks.

Copper above 'aesthetic objective'

Petroforma also tested for things like copper, which Hanrahan says is often found in water that has high levels of lead.

The Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality note that the guideline for copper is "based on aesthetic considerations," while adding that "adverse health effects occur at levels much higher than the aesthetic objective."

There were about a half dozen test locations at MUN that had levels of copper above the aesthetic objective.

MUN told CBC News that the university has tested for copper in the past.

Late Wednesday afternoon, the university posted online hundreds of pages of water quality test results dating back a decade.

Campus shut down after initial scare

Memorial shut down its St. John's campus for two days, July 31 and Aug. 1, after announcing the discovery of lead in the water.

On Aug. 4, MUN said there was no problem with the drinking water, and initial testing wasn't carried out properly.

A week later, university officials reversed course, saying there actually is lead in some of the drinking water on its St. John's campus.

The university has pledged to post updates online as work progresses to determine the source of the issue.