EAST LONGMEADOW – The school district will be undertaking an extensive study to determine the levels of lead and copper in its school’s drinking water locations with the help of funding from the state.

“In the early spring, the state had alerted school systems that they were going to be putting together a water testing assistance program to which school systems could apply and take part in,” Superintendent of Schools Gordon Smith said.

He added the program is a collaboration between the University of Massachusetts (UMass) and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The team at UMass helps train, organize, and structure the program by assisting district and municipal employees on how to conduct the sample study and analyze results.  

Town and school employees, including school principals, head custodians, and Department of Public Works leadership employees attended an informational meeting in August, Smith said.

Building Facilities Manager Bruce Fenney said every area in all the districts schools that has potable water would be tested twice – the first testing is the initial water from the faucet and the second consists of water that has been allowed to run for 30 seconds.

“We have been, as a town, pretty consistent with doing the testing that’s been required by the DEP,” Smith said, noting results in past years have been below the average amount of lead and copper in school water systems.  

He added the level at which a district must take action to remove lead from the water supply is 0.015 milligrams per liter of water and 1.3 milligrams per liter for copper.

Fenney said the town is required to test all of its schools for lead and copper levels in the water every three years by the DEP.

Smith said past studies only tested one or two testing sites in each school – the new one is more comprehensive and would test approximately 40 to 50 areas at each school.

“You take the high school – you’re going from what was two [testing] areas to 39 or 40,” he explained.

“You’re looking at something like Meadow Brook [Elementary School] … and you’re probably going to be testing somewhere between 45 and 50,” he added.

Smith said he believes the study is important, especially in light of controversies in Flint, MI, this year where toxic levels of lead were found in the city’s drinking water.

“It’s become very much in the news, has received national attention, and I think with that the state of Massachusetts and Gov. Baker felt that they should take steps to make sure that in our school systems across the state, we’re doing everything we can to ensure that the water that our students are using and drinking is lead free,” he added.