Metro Schools To Test All Water Fountains For Lead

NASHVILLE, TN — Every water fountain at every public school in Davidson County will be tested for lead before the start of school in August, Metro Nashville Public Schools officials announced Monday. A testing program was already underway, but MNPS said it is accelerating the timeline due to "concerns in other parts of the country."

“Checking the drinking water in our buildings is the right thing to do for children and for our employees,” said Executive Director of Facility and Grounds Maintenance Dennis Neal in a statement. “It is something we wanted to do and felt we needed to do.” (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

The ramped-up schedule comes after an investigative piece from NewsChannel 5 showed that 81 water sources of the 2,800 tested by MNPS in the first phase of testing were above the Environmental Protection Agency action level, including a chiller unit at Hillwood High School that had a lead level of 1,190 parts per billion, 80 times the EPA's action level. More than a third of the samples tested had a level above 1 part per billion, the maximum acceptable level for children according to a recent statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

MNPS said that all areas with elevated lead levels were resampled and "corrected," and with "all schools tested meeting all federal and state standards – results verified by Metro Health, Metro Water and TDEC."

MNPS said all schools — including those already tested — will participate in the expanded and accelerated testing program at a cost of $187,000.

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