Higher-than-normal copper levels that plagued some university buildings earlier this month have been lowered, and water at NIU now is safe to drink and bathe in, said Robert Albanese, director of NIU’s physical plant.

All campus water fountains have been tested and either are returning safe levels of copper, or have been equipped with filters to produce safe drinking water, Albanese said.

A similar filtering process called “reverse osmosis” also was performed at the Campus Child Care Center, Albanese said.

Also, water used by NIU food services has returned copper levels below 1.0 milligrams per liter, which means it’s safe to drink.

“We think the problem is under control,” Albanese said. “We worked diligently to resolve the problem. … We don’t want people to have to worry about this in the beginning of the semester.”

Earlier this month, copper levels in some buildings had been almost twice as high as the maximum allowable by the Environmental Protection Agency. By law, copper levels can be no higher than 1.3 milligrams of copper per liter of water. Levels at NIU were measured as high as 2.5 milligrams, Albanese said.

Albanese said officials still are investigating why some buildings tested high while others did not. Some just needed the pipes to get working on a regular basis again, he said.

NIU gets its water supply from deep-water wells it shares with the city of DeKalb. In Wednesday’s Northern Star, Jerry Bever, the assistant director of Public Works for DeKalb, said the city and university are working together to find out where the main cause of the problem came from.