New federal grants to get the lead out of school drinking water

On June 13th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability  of $26 million to address lead in schools’ drinking water. Environment America helped convince Congress to boost such funding to $200 million over five years and allow schools to spend the funds on lead reduction (rather than testing), as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. 

The problem of lead

Lead is highly hazardous for kids. Yet lead contamination of schools’ water is widespread, as our research partners have documented. Like many homes and buildings, most schools have sufficient lead in their plumbing, pipes, faucets and/or fountains to leach into drinking water.

The best way to get the lead out

For this reason, schools should use funding to install filters at taps used for drinking or cooking and to replace lead-bearing parts where feasible. For example, the EPA notes that 360 schools in New Hampshire have replaced their “drinking water apparatus.”

In contrast, we would caution schools against spending more money on tests to confirm the presence of lead. Lead concentrations in water are so variable that a faucet or fountain can still serve lead-laced water even after multiple negative test results. 

How this lead funding will be distributed

States (rather than individual school districts) apply for these grants, which were established under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. Of the $26 million, this chart from the EPA shows how much grant funding is available for each state and territory to deal with lead in drinking water at schools or child care centers.

For more information on how schools can best use these and other funds, see our get the lead out toolkit.