Lead Testing of Drinking Water in Schools and Child Care Facilities

In This Section:

Lead is a highly toxic metal.There is no safe level of lead in the body. Exposure to lead can slow children’s growth, impair their development and learning, and cause behavior problems. Additionally, young children absorb lead into their systems more easily than adults do.

Lead can get into drinking water from plumbing and fixtures, so it's important to make sure lead levels in drinking water are as low as possible. Fixing a lead in drinking water problem is often easy and low cost. Solutions can include replacing plumbing fixtures, removing redundant or seldom-used fixtures, and encouraging the use of centrally located, well-maintained bottle fill stations.

First Round of Testing

Act 66, passed in 2019, requires all Vermont school districts, supervisory unions, independent schools and child care providers to test their drinking and cooking water for lead. If lead is found at or above the action level of 4 parts per billion (ppb), the school or child care provider must immediately take the tap out of service and take corrective action to eliminate or reduce the amount of lead to below the action level.

The first round of testing was completed from June 2019 through December 2021. During this round, 98% of Vermont schools and child care providers tested over 15,000 taps used for drinking and cooking and took steps to ensure lead levels were below 4 ppb. Here are some key findings:

One out of every five drinking water taps tested had elevated levels of lead.
Sinks were the most common tap tested and had among the highest lead levels.
Bottle fillers had the lowest lead levels.
Lead was more frequently found in the water fixture rather than the plumbing.
Costs were less than $500 for 90% of the fixtures that needed to be replaced.

Learn more about key findings from the first round of testing
For more details, read the full report

There will be more rounds of testing. Taps at schools and child care facilities will need to be tested every three years according to the schedule in the rule.

Pilot Project

The Health Department, Agency of Natural Resources and the Agency of Education led a joint project from November 2017 to March 2018 to gather information about lead levels in drinking water of Vermont schools. This project provided a small number of schools with the opportunity to receive one-on-one assistance and save money during the testing process.

The Health Department offered testing supplies, analysis and follow-up testing free of charge to participating schools. If lead was found in drinking water, State agencies and drinking water experts worked with schools to find the best possible solution to lower lead levels. Many solutions were easy and low cost.

Pilot results and report

Read the report on Vermont's Lead in School Drinking Water Pilot Project

**Lead in School Drinking Water Pilot Test Results**
school Name	City/town
Academy School	Brattleboro
Barre City Elementary & Middle School	Barre City
Bennington Elementary School	Bennington
Cabot School	Cabot
Castleton Elementary School	Castleton
Central Elementary School	Bellows Falls
Elm Hill School	Springfield
Enosburg Falls Elementary School	Enosburg Falls
Johnson Elementary School	Johnson
Ludlow Elementary School	Ludlow
Northwest Primary School	Rutland
Richford Elementary School	Richford
St. Albans City School	St. Albans
St. Johnsbury School	St. Johnsbury
Thatcher Brook Primary School	Waterbury
White River School	White River Junction

How the Lead Testing Process Works

Learn about lead testing in school drinking water

Learn about lead testing in child care drinking water

See the Lead in Drinking Water Results

Topics:

Child Care | Child Health and Safety | Drinking Water | Lead Poisoning | School Health

Last Updated: March 10, 2023