Previously, the district took action if levels were above 15 ppb.
Now, any drinking water or food preparation locations testing at greater than 5 ppb will be taken out of service until mitigation is completed and acceptable test results are achieved, Swift said in a written update shared with parents and other community members this week.
"We will continue the process to replace older water fixtures with hydration stations in all schools until we achieve the recommended 1 station per 100 individuals, dependent on floor plan of the building and student and staff population," Swift wrote.
"The AAPS protocol for addressing the issue, when lead levels read at >5ppb, may include replacing water fixtures, installing certified lead filters and, in some cases, replacing water pipes behind the fixture, which is the protocol indicated by water quality experts."
The district’s last annual tests from July and August of 2017 showed several schools had lead in the water from various faucets and drinking fountains above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency action level of 15 parts per billion, and others at lower levels.
In some cases, the levels were well above the EPA action level — as high as 320 ppb from one faucet at Burns Park Elementary.
Swift said the district has voluntarily tested the water annually since 2016 in all AAPS schools and has addressed issues in all cases where there were lead levels above the 15-ppb action level, and now the district is implementing its own voluntary 5-ppb action level.
Some concerned parents have pointed out the 15-ppb action level the district followed in the past is not a health standard and the EPA actually has set a maximum contaminant level goal for lead in drinking water at zero, because lead is a toxic metal that can be harmful even at low exposure levels, and children are particularly vulnerable.
The last round of testing last year showed the following detections of lead from various school water fixtures: Abbott Elementary — 2-8 ppb Allen Elementary — 2-8 ppb Angell Elementary — 1-42 ppb Ann Arbor Open at Mack School — 1-9 ppb Bach Elementary — 2-15 ppb Balas Administration Building — 1 ppb Bryant Elementary — 1-4 ppb Burns Park Elementary — 2-320 ppb Carpenter Elementary — 2-4 ppb Clague Middle School — 1-50 ppb Community High — 2-26 ppb Dicken Elementary — 2-25 ppb Eberwhite Elementary — 2-39 ppb Forsythe Middle School — 2-120 ppb Haisley Elementary — 1-38 ppb Huron High — no detections King Elementary — 1-8 ppb Lakewood Elementary — 1-9 ppb Lawton Elementary — 1-51 ppb Logan Elementary — 1-6 ppb Mitchell Elementary — 1-4 ppb Pathways to Success Academic Campus — 2-7 ppb Pattengill Elementary — 1-16 ppb Pioneer High — 2-10 ppb Pittsfield Elementary — 4-8 ppb Preschool and Family Center — 1-8 ppb Scarlett Middle School — 1-3 ppb Skyline High — 1-31 ppb Slauson Middle School — 1-11 ppb STEAM at Northside — 1-110 ppb Tappan Middle School — 1-11 ppb Thurston Elementary — 1-2 ppb Wines Elementary — 1-82 ppb Abby Dumes, the parent of an AAPS first-grader, has been among the concerned community members who’ve pushed school district officials to do more to address the issue of lead in the water.
Dumes said the district’s new commitment to test all sources and lower the action level to 5 ppb is a big step in the right direction.