Water Testing
November 2025
Dear Staff, Parents and Guardians:
As you may be aware, lead testing was performed throughout all District buildings in 2016 and again in 2022 based on guidance issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on water testing in schools, 3Ts for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in Schools. Water outlets at that time that exceeded the maximum recommended threshold of 15 parts per billion (ppb) were remediated or removed from service. Since the last testing campaign, the maximum recommended threshold by the New York State Education Department was reduced to 5 ppb and is the basis for the current retesting efforts.
The District is in the process of routine retesting of water outlets at all schools for lead, focusing on internal plumbing and fixtures, in accordance with the new New York State Department of Health Testing in School Drinking Water Program Guidance Manual. I am writing today to provide some background on our current actions, share the results of the recent water sampling tests specifically for Woodglen Elementary School and give an overview of our next steps.
Veolia (formerly SUEZ) is the District’s water supplier and supplies water to most of the homes in our community. Information on the quality of water supplied within our areas can be found on Veolia’s website HERE.
To facilitate the test program, the District engaged Adelaide Environmental Health Associates, Inc., who performed lead testing in 2016 and 2022, and is a leading expert in water quality testing. Adelaide assisted the District in developing the plan, and implemented all testing using an environmental
laboratory certified by the NYSDOH Environmental Laboratory Approval Program (ELAP).
Key components of the District’s plan:
- Determine the Scope - Sample testing in all school buildings.
- Prior to testing, the district has taken the following initiatives;
- Installed filtered water fountain / bottle filler stations in convenient locations at each school and removed old style classroom water bubblers/fountains from service.
- Installed water filters to sinks used for drinking purposes such as in nurse’s offices, kitchens, faculty break rooms and home economics rooms.
- NYSDOH sanitary code does not permit drinking from bathroom sinks so these outlets were not tested and instead addressed through signage and education to mitigate any potential use. These outlets remain safe for hand washing.
- Identify Sampling Locations - based on NYSDOH Lead Testing in School Drinking Water Program Guidance Manual.
- Sample all drinking fountains; kitchen sinks; classroom sinks; home economic room sinks; teacher's lounge sinks; nurse's office sinks; and any water source known to be or visibly used for consumption (for example, coffee maker or cups are nearby)
- Sample all drinking fountains; kitchen sinks; classroom sinks; home economic room sinks; teacher's lounge sinks; nurse's office sinks; and any water source known to be or visibly used for consumption (for example, coffee maker or cups are nearby)
- Identify Testing Protocol - “first draw” samples, which are designed to represent a reasonable “worst case” for potential exposure to lead
- Identify and put in place corrective action plans for any water outlet that does not meet the NYSDOH recommended standard, which is a lead level above 5 ppb.
Results
As a result of the above process, 40 water outlets at Woodglen ES were identified for “first draw” testing. All sources used for drinking purposes passed the 5 ppb standard. The water outlets that exceeded the standard are listed below.
- WGES-04 1007, Room 252 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 6.8 ppb
- WGES-10 1011 Room 255 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 6.8 ppb
- WGES-12 1009 Room 265 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 6.1 ppb
- WGES -13 1019 Room 241 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 21 ppb
- WGES-15 1015 Room 242 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 9.2 ppb
- WGES-21 2040 Room 128 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 17.2 ppb
- WGES-34 2007 Room 115 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 5.2 ppb
- WGES-42 2005 Room 104 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 5.2 ppb
- WGES-52 2047 Library Storage – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 14.5 ppb
- WGES-54 2032 Room 122 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 17.8 ppb
- WGES-64 2037 Room 134 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 7.4 ppb
- WGES-66 2038 Room 125 – Wall 1 – Sink 1 Faucet 1: 8.9 ppb
All of these sinks listed have been addressed through signage and education since 2016 to mitigate use for drinking purposes. These sinks remain acceptable for hand washing purposes. No further action is needed.
The health and safety of our students and staff members is always our primary concern.
For comprehensive information relating to lead in water testing, please refer to the following informative resources.
3Ts for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in Schools
https://www.epa.gov/ground-
/3ts-reducing-lead-drinking-
may%20include%20a%
New York State Department of Health Testing in School Drinking Water Program Guidance Manual
https://www.health.ny.gov/
lead/docs/
Sincerely,
Dr. Marc Baiocco
Superintendent of Schools