Lead Water Updates

In order to ensure that all Delaware children and school staff have access to safe and clean drinking water, the State of Delaware collaborated with federal and local partners. As part of this effort, the Delaware Department of Education and the Delaware Division of Public Health launched a sampling initiative in October 2020, funded by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, to determine the levels of lead in the drinking water systems of Delaware schools.

After testing in the summer of 2022, NCCVT immediately remediated and/or removed four areas identified with elevated levels of lead. Since that time, all NCCVT fixtures have been retested at least twice. The most recent findings and actionable steps are listed below.

School	Date Sampling Completed	Results	Actions Taken
Delcastle	September 13, 2023	Elevated lead discovered in the water fountain in A106 and sink in B101.	Water fountain was immediately disconnected and marked "not for consumption." Testing revealed elevated levels in the supply piping; the fixture will be removed. Faucet was replaced and resampled. Elevated levels were still discovered. The supply piping will be replaced during the 2023-2024 school year.
Hodgson	March 4, 2023	No issues discovered.	N/A
Howard	September 13, 2023	Elevated lead discovered in two water fountains in the cafeteria.	Fountains were immediately disconnected, marked "not for consumption," and removed. Water coolers with cups are available to students. Elevated levels of lead were discovered in the incoming supply lines. Supply piping and fountains will be replaced.
Marshallton	September 13, 2023	Below the reported levels.	No further action is necessary.
St. Georges	June 2, 2023	Below the reported levels.	No further action is necessary.

NCCVT received $106,454 in one-time funding through the State's Filter First Initiative. With this funding, we plan to replace all water fountains in the District with high quality bottle filling stations.