RI Schools Can Sign Up To Have Drinking Water Tested For Lead

The Rhode Island Department of Health is urging K-12 schools statewide to take advantage of a newly-launched drinking water testing program at no cost.

The program, which launched last month and is a collaboration between the Rhode Island Department of Health, the Rhode Island Department of Education, and the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program, tests for the presence of lead in drinking water.

“Lead is a neurotoxin, so it affects how a child’s brain develops. Lead exposure can make it difficult for a child to grow, think, and learn,” Interim Director of Health Utpala Bandy, MD, MPH, said in a Thursday news release from the Rhode Island Department of Health. “Children spend much of their young lives in school. It is the responsibility of all of us to make sure schools are healthy environments, so that Rhode Island’s kids thrive now and into the future. We encourage all schools to participate and test their drinking water for lead.”

When schools sign up, program staff work with school leadership on the timing of sample collection and on the selection of 10 sample locations through each school, officials said. Rhode Island Department of Health and URI Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program will provide sampling materials and arrange sample pickup and testing, and all water sample analyses will be done at Rhode Island Department of Health's State Health Laboratories.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to lead can seriously harm a child's health, including damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems. Lead poisoning effects are most serious for babies, young children, and people who are pregnant.

"The only way to know if there is lead in drinking water is to test for it," the Rhode Island Department of Health wrote. "All drinking water testing results will be shared with the school and will be available on RIDOH’s website. If the water testing shows levels of lead above the Environmental Protection Agency action level, RIDOH and URI Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program will support the schools and provide guidance on how to address the lead and protect children and staff."

Interested superintendents are urged to contact the Rhode Island Department of Health Lead and Copper Rule Manager Deborah LaMond at Deborah.LaMond@health.ri.gov.