STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As 25 percent of New York City public schools continue to show elevated levels of lead in their water, the Department of Education (DOE) is in the process of testing every fixture in every public school across the five boroughs.
More than 140,000 fixtures will be tested. The first third will be completed by the end of 2018, a second third by 2019, and the final third by 2020.
"We remain vigilant and will begin retesting fixtures in schools this year as part of our continued focus on water safety," city Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said.
DOE would not comment on why the testing process is taking as long as three years.
STATE PROTOCOL
According to the New York State Regulation for Lead Testing in School Drinking Water, schools are required to collect water samples in 2020 or at an earlier time as determined by the New York State Department of Health commissioner.
"Schools shall continue to collect first-draw samples at least every five years thereafter or at an earlier time as determined by the commissioner," the regulation states.
Education officials first conducted citywide testing of all fixtures across city schools in the 2016-2017 school year. Results released in April 2017 showed 8 percent of all fixtures citywide reported high levels of lead, compared to 1 percent, or 1,165 fixtures, in September 2018.
The DOE would not comment on how long it will take to remediate all 1,165 school fixtures currently showing high lead levels.
19 STATEN ISLAND SCHOOLS HAVE LEAD
In those 19 schools, 76 fixtures reported lead levels above the 15 parts per billion threshold. Lead levels above 15 parts per billion are considered dangerous by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
When fixtures used for cooking or drinking, such as water fountains, have high levels of lead, they are immediately kept out of service and remain offline until successful remediation. For fixtures that aren't used for cooking or drinking, such as a hand-washing sink, signage indicates the water is not for drinking until successful remediation.
A lead remediation plan is implemented to mitigate the lead level of the outlet, which includes replacing fixtures. The fixtures are then retested for elevated lead levels following remediation.
Fixtures in schools that continue to have high levels of lead after remediation are investigated under a case-by-case basis and will undergo further remediation, according to the DOE.
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