Free Lead Dust Tests
Maine CDC offers free home lead dust test kits to families with young children or children on the way. Order a free home lead dust test kit. Watch our video to see how to do the test.
Lead in School Drinking Water
Lead in schools and childcare facility drinking water continues to be a serious concern, with children potentially drinking water with dangerous levels of lead. Even when water entering a facility meets all federal and state public health standards for lead concentrations, older plumbing materials found in schools can contribute to elevated lead levels in the drinking water. The health effects of lead exposure are especially dangerous in children, with both the EPA and CDC agreeing that there is no known safe level of lead in children. Additionally, a large portion of school staff tend to be women, who risk transferring lead to their babies during pregnancy and nursing.
Testing for Lead in Drinking Water
The only way to know if there is lead in drinking water is to test for it. In 2019, the Maine legislature mandated all K-12 schools in Maine test their drinking water for lead. Schools sampled their drinking water taps for lead between August 2021 and June 2023. Maine schools conducted first draw tests to tell if lead is dissolving into the water from pipes or fixtures, rather than to tell how much lead someone is being exposed to.
Water Testing Results for Schools
The new interactive dashboard of lead in school water data shows lead concentrations for every faucet or tap that was tested by the school. Maps show the average concentration of all samples taken at a school. Although there is no level of lead in drinking water that is deemed safe, it is recommended that schools stop using all fixtures with lead concentrations of 4 ppb or higher. To learn about the actions schools have taken to reduce lead in water, reach out to your local school department.
Reducing Lead in Drinking Water
Schools should familiarize themselves with best practice recommendations on how to address lead in drinking water. The EPA recommends that schools and childcare facilities have a program in place for reducing lead in drinking water, which includes establishing routine practices to manage water quality, such as cleaning of fixture aerators and drinking fountain screens, flushing outlets after periods of no water use, routinely testing each drinking water outlet, taking corrective actions, and considering permanent filtration.
The Maine CDC Drinking Water Program
The Maine CDC Drinking Water Program works to ensure safe drinking water in Maine, to protect public health, by administering and enforcing drinking water and subsurface wastewater regulations, providing education and technical and financial assistance.
- Lead in School Drinking Water (PDF)
- FAQ: Lead in Schools (PDF)
- Is There Lead in My Drinking Water? (PDF)
- How Lead Gets in Your Drinking Water (PDF)
- How to Identify Lead Free Fixtures (PDF)
- A Guide to Lead Testing in Maine Schools (PDF)
- Lead Sampling Instruction from A&L Lab
Public water system officials looking for information can call the Division of Environmental and Community Health at (866) 292-3474.