LEAD WATER TESTING

On July 13, 2016, the State Board of Education adopted regulations regarding testing for lead in drinking water in public schools throughout New Jersey. The regulations have been filed with the Office of Administrative Law and are effective immediately.

Overview of Regulations:

The regulations require testing for lead in all drinking water outlets within 365 days of the effective date of the regulations, which was July 13, 2016. Therefore, all districts are to have had their water drinking outlets tested by no later than July 13, 2017. Samples must then be sent to a certified testing laboratory for analysis.

Sample Results and Discussion:

All results are expressed as milligrams of Lead or Copper per liter of water (mg/L) and compared against the current Action Level. Results could also be expressed in equivalent terms of parts per billion (ppb) where the 0.015 mg/L Action level translates to 15 ppb.

Water samples were collected in all District-owned buildings on two occasions. A total of 40 water samples were collected on April 21, 2016. None of these samples exceeded the 0.015 mg/L Action Level. In fact, 26 of the 40 water samples had no detectible levels of lead present. The initial sample set was intended to provide a representation of the water quality in the schools as it relates to Lead and Copper content in the drinking water.

In July 2016, the State Board of Education adopted new rules regarding Lead in drinking water in school buildings that require sampling of all water outlets. The second sample collection was conducted on June 02, 2016, and addressed the remaining 60 water taps in the Madison Schools. The results of this sampling show that no outlet exceeded the Lead Action Level of 0.015 mg/L and that 40 of the samples had no detectible levels of the Lead present.

Both sampling episodes showed excellent results with acceptable levels of both Lead and Copper in all drinking water samples.

Notification:

Every district must make all test results available at the school facility and on the district's website. The regulations also require notification to the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE), as well as to parents, in any instances where positive results over the established level are reported. The Madison School District has complied with this regulation by having their drinking water outlets tested prior to July 13, 2017, and there are NO instances of positive results over the established threshold.