MONTGOMERY-In an effort to promote public confidence and help schools minimize the potential exposure to possible high levels of lead in drinking water, the Alabama Department of Education in conjunction with ADEM will assist all pre-K thru 12th grade public school systems with testing for lead in drinking water over the next three years. There has been a tremendous amount of interest nation-wide in the quality of public drinking water, particularly with respect to lead levels in drinking water in schools. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, public water systems are required to test for lead at least once every three years at residences deemed to have the greatest potential for high lead levels. However, there is no federal or Alabama law requiring testing of drinking water in schools, except for those that have or operate their own public water system. (Alabama has only two such schools.) In a process that began back in July, the State Department of Education and ADEM developed a master plan to determine lead levels that goes above and beyond federal and state regulatory requirements. Samples will be analyzed by state-certified private laboratories chosen and all results will be submitted to both ADEM and the Department of Education along with local public school systems. The results will also be placed in the ADEM eFile system for internet access by the public-at-large.
Media Release/ADEM
