The English School District expects to start receiving air purification units before the start of school next week.

Some 5,500 units, at a total cost of nearly $8-million, have been purchased from Aerus Canada. 4,000 portable units were ordered last week and another 1,500 units were ordered this week.

The school board says the company, which has offices in St. John’s and Bedford, Nova Scotia has advised them that the first shipment is already being trucked to the province.

Director Tony Stack says the portable units will be used as another tier to ventilation in the classroom.

The units contain HEPA filters that clean particles from the air says Stack, and help with the disinfection of surfaces through ionization. Some of the same types of units are currently used in the health care system.

The priority, according to the school board, is to get the first units into schools and K-6 classrooms that are not already mechanically ventilated.

The school district says the units, which simply need to be plugged into an existing outlet, are not intended as a retrofit for ventilation systems, but a supplement to ventilation systems and practices currently in place. The provincial government’s Industrial Hygienist has informed the school board that the device meets their requirements.