Elevated Levels Of Lead Found In Drinking Water At Farmingdale Schools

FARMINGDALE, NY — The Farmingdale School District has notified parents after testing has found elevated levels in drinking water in some of its schools, including in drinking fountains and water faucets.

A letter issued by Superintendent Paul Defendini outlined the details, including that the Farmingdale School District has recently performed updated testing on its schools' drinking water in compliance with the New York State Department of Health's new stricter state standards.

NYS has raised the standards for water safety by lowering the compliance threshold from 15 parts per billion (ppb) to 5 ppb. The NYS DOH has also issued that all NYS public schools and BOCES are required to test all potable water outlets for lead by Dec. 21. According to the NYS DOH, if lead levels exceed 5 micrograms/liter, then they are required to take action.

The results showed that some drinking fountains and sink faucets had elevated levels of lead. The sink faucets that tested above the limit were typically found in classrooms or bathrooms.

Salzman Elementary School's results showed a kitchen faucet in the library tested at 282 ug/L.

Northside Elementary School's results showed that a classroom faucet tested at more than 100 ug/L, well over the new threshold.

Farmingdale High School's results showed a drinking fountain tested at more than 27 ug/L.

The full results can be found online.

The Superintendent's letter from Thursday states:

"Due to this stricter standard, some fixtures that were previously compliant now require remediation. We view this as an opportunity to upgrade our facilities to meet these higher safety expectations."

The letter continued to explain how they test:

"The 'First Draw' Method.

To ensure the highest standard of safety, schools are required to test water using a "first draw" sample. This means we test the water after it has been sitting in the pipes overnight or over a weekend. In classrooms where water fountains are rarely, if ever, used, first-draw samples often yield significantly elevated readings due to stagnation.

Because water sitting in pipes for long periods can collect higher levels of lead than water that is flowing freely, this testing represents a "worst-case scenario." It helps us identify any specific faucets or fountains that need attention, even if the water is safe during regular, continuous use."

The Superintendent wrote that they are currently testing fixtures across their schools and are committed to full transparency.

"Implementation of more rigorous testing standards has resulted in the highest volume of fixtures requiring remediation across all buildings since the program's inception in 2016/17," Defendini wrote.

The Superintendent shared that for any location that tested above the new 5 ppb threshold, they have taken immediate action, and plan to have long-term solutions in place as well:

For the immediate actions, they have turned off and removed any drinking fountains with elevated levels of lead. They have added signage to any sink faucet with elevated levels of lead to show that they are for 'Hand Washing Only.'

For a long-term plan, they said they are implementing a "district-wide upgrade to ensure consistent water quality."

They shared that they will do so by decommissioning older classroom water fountains throughout the district and adding more filtered water stations.

Questions can be directed to Interim Director of Facilities Angelo Andreotti at aandreotti@farmingdaleschools.org.