Get the Lead Out of Drinking Water in Schools

We don’t have any national requirements for ensuring lead-free drinking water in schools and child cares, and many of our school buildings contain older plumbing materials with high lead content. Even brand new fittings and fixtures can contain up to 0.25% lead even though they are marked “lead free.” Since there is no safe level of lead exposure, it is critically important to provide a reliable source of safe drinking water in our schools and child cares as our children’s brains are developing.

To make up for this gap in federal regulations, I assisted a team that put together model legislation for providing reliable drinking water in our schools and child cares. In a nutshell, lead is in the majority of our plumbing. Filter first, then test to make sure the filters are working. Continuing this endless cycle of sampling and finding lead in the water does not end up providing a reliable source of safe water. Take a look and try getting this passed in your state.