Lead Water Updates

To make sure all Delaware children and school staff have access to safe drinking water, the State of Delaware partnered with federal and local agencies. In October 2020, the Delaware Department of Education and the Division of Public Health began a statewide water sampling project, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, to check for lead in school water systems.

After testing in the summer of 2022, NCCVT quickly fixed or removed four areas where lead levels were high. Since then, all water fixtures have been retested at least twice. The most recent results and actions are listed below:

School	Date Sampling Completed	Results	Actions Taken
Delcastle	September 13, 2023	Elevated lead found in the water fountain in A106 and the sink in B101.	Water fountain was disconnected and marked "not for consumption." Elevated lead was found in the pipes, so the fixture will be removed. The faucet was replaced and retested, but lead was still found. 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 found in two cafeteria water fountains.	Fountains were removed and marked "not for consumption." Water coolers were provided. High lead was found in the incoming water lines, which will be replaced along with the fountains.
Marshallton	September 13, 2023	Below the reported levels.	No action needed.
St. Georges	June 2, 2023	Below the reported levels.	No action needed.

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.