The Fayetteville-Manlius School District recently completed more water testing, checking outlets used for drinking and cooking to make sure they comply with New York state’s requirements for lead in the district’s drinking water.
According to state law, school districts are required every five years to complete a round of lead testing of water outlets used for drinking and cooking, unless the state Commissioner of Health requires testing sooner. F-M was proactively testing for lead before the state mandated school districts do so.
Shortly after F-M completed voluntary testing of its water outlets in 2016, New York state became the first in the nation to require schools to test water for lead. The most recent requirement is for districts to collect water samples between Jan. 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021.
The law requires school districts to sample all water outlets currently or potentially used for drinking or cooking purposes in buildings that may be occupied by students and to submit those samples to a state approved lab for analysis. The state established an action level of 15 micrograms of lead per liter, typically referred to as “parts per billion (ppb).”
If a sample from a water outlet exceeds this level, schools must take steps to prevent the use of the outlet for drinking or cooking purposes until it is remediated and follow-up testing confirms it is no longer above the action level.
Fixtures recently tested at F-M consisted of faucets, drinking fountains/bottle filler stations or fixtures that were not able to be secured or controlled by way of supervision and labeling or physical locks.
Below are the most recent results and remediation plans by building. Individual lab reports are available upon request by calling 315-692-1250.
District Office Building
- Five tests conducted with no results meeting or exceeding the threshold.
Eagle Hill Middle School
- Conducted 120 tests resulting in two with levels above the threshold: an unused kitchen faucet and a boys bathroom faucet across from the cafeteria.
- Both have been replaced, and tested safe for use.
Enders Road Elementary School
- Conducted 93 tests resulting in three with levels above the threshold: drinking fountain in cluster B; faucet in teachers room bathroom and a faucet in the teachers room.
- All three were replaced immediately and tested safe for use.
Fayetteville Elementary School
- Conducted 70 tests with one meeting or exceeding the threshold: art room sink in the kiln room. The faucet will be replaced and retested. Signage has been placed on the sink in the meantime indicating that it is not to be used for water consumption.
F-M High School House 1
- Conducted 84 tests resulting in one test with levels above the threshold: photo lab dark room. Currently secured until a new faucet is procured, installed and tested.
F-M High School House 2
- Conducted 54 tests resulting in two with levels above the threshold. Faucets in boys restroom 2105 and snack shack (currently not being used). The boys restroom faucet has been taken out of service for a new faucet. The snack shack faucet is out of service but will be exercised and retested.
Mott Road Elementary School
- Conducted 67 tests with none meeting or exceeding the threshold.
Wellwood Middle School
- Conducted 85 tests resulting in two with results above the threshold: a coach’s office restroom faucet not used for drinking and tagged from previous testing so no action taken and a faucet in classroom 102. The class was relocated due to the construction schedule, and so the faucet was discarded in construction.
Pending Tests
- New addition Wellwood Middle School
- Transportation
- ICC Building
- Conference House
- Snack Shacks
- Turf field bathrooms and ice machines