Drinking Water Safety
Drinking Water Safety
In 2016, the State Board of Education adopted new rules related to testing for lead in drinking water for schools. School districts and public charter schools are now required to report findings of testing to the public within five days of receiving the results, as well as how remediate and how they will monitor moving forward.
Water Testing in the Forest Grove School District
The district has developed a plan to test for and reduce exposure to lead in water used for drinking or food preparation.
1. Identify sources of lead: The District will identify all sources of drinking water and food preparation water in all buildings by December 31, 2016 and will complete random sample testing annually for continual monitoring to identifying sources of lead problems.
2. Testing: The district follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s 3 T’s Revised Technical Guidance to ensure that samples for lead are collected properly and from the right places and will use an OHA-accredited drinking water laboratory to analyze samples for lead.
3. Stop access: All sources of drinking water or food preparation that have more than 20 parts per billion (ppb) of lead will be immediately shut off to prevent access. This includes shutting off taps, covering water fountains, and providing bottled water to students and staff members when necessary.
4. Communicate: All results from tests for lead in water will be available to students, families, and the community as quickly as possible. Test results will be made public and posted in the "Testing Results" section below. For further information on the EPA's 3Ts technical guidance please visit their website here.
Water Testing Rules and EPA Recommendations
Federal Testing Recommendations
Our district follows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommendations for school water testing. This means that 250 mL first-draw samples are collected from water fountains and other outlets used for consumption. Water fountains and/or outlets are taken out of service if the lead level exceeds 20 ppb. The school sampling protocol maximizes the likelihood that the highest concentrations of lead are found because the first 250 mL are analyzed for lead after overnight stagnation.