The School District of Lancaster published the results of its annual lead testing in its school buildings.
The water supplies in most schools were shown to be safe in the first round of testing. Some school buildings required minor remediation, and all subsequent tests showed levels well below the risk threshold. All results and abatement measures are available in the facilities section of the district website. The district is also sending a letter to families with results from their child’s school.
SDoL began voluntarily testing water sources for lead contamination in 2016 in some of its older district buildings. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania now requires school districts to conduct tests on all district buildings.
The district conducted the tests in June on what is called a “first draw sample,” which is water that has been sitting in the plumbing for more than six hours. Because of the school shutdown, many of the water sources were untouched for several months, leading to artificially high readings in some schools. Flushing the water showed the source to be well below the action threshold and safe to drink.
Lead poisoning can be dangerous to children. However, only children who consume large amounts of contaminated water, especially over a long period of time (months or years), are at risk of lead poisoning. Concerned families should consult with their family medical providers for more information.