The city Education Department will re-test the water sources in all public school buildings for lead — this time without flushing them the night before, city school officials said Monday.
Lead testing of school water conducted in 2016 and previous years employed a tactic called pre-stagnation flushing, where city officials ran water outlets the night before testing to clear them of sediment.
The practice was developed by the city in partnership with the federal Environmental Protection Agency but drew criticism from some experts.
New guidelines for lead testing issued by the state this year do not recommend the practice, and now the city is retesting the schools without it.
“Parents can rest assured that water across all school buildings is of the highest quality,” said Deputy Chancellor Elizabeth Rose. “Families and school staff will be frequently updated.”
The city expects to conclude its retesting of the public schools the water sources for lead by June 2017.
City officials found elevated lead levels in water at 509 public school buildings in an analysis of 1,341 samples taken from public school buildings in March, April and May 2016.
Education Department officials said the amounts of lead discovered did not indicate potential harm to students and that any cases of elevated lead were corrected.
City families were informed of the city’s decision to re-test the public schools’ water for lead in a letter set home with students on Monday.
