Colorado Bill Will Protect Kids from Lead in Drinking Water

Filters need to be installed because the sad fact is, if you test for lead, you will find it. State mandatory and voluntary testing programs have demonstrated this, from Colorado, New York, Indiana. It’s important to keep in mind that there is no safe level of lead in drinking water, and children are the most susceptible to the irreversible adverse effects of lead, which include the failure to concentrate, reduced cognitive ability, and aggressive behavior.  

So, what have states found? About 82% of New York’s public schools had at least one test result above 15 parts per billion (ppb). In Indiana, about 62% of schools had at least one source that tested above 15 ppb. In Colorado, that figure was about 60%. If you look at results lower than 15 ppb, the number of schools exceeding those limits is far greater. This is very concerning and must be fixed, because the experts—including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization—all agree that there is no safe level of lead exposure.

Installing filters protects kids sooner than testing for and chasing the lead problem. Filtration stations take only a few hours to install, and faucet mount filters take minutes. These systems protect kids now. Repeated testing to attempt to identify all the leaded plumbing in a system, then removing and replacing those pipes and fixtures takes time and more money. Our cost analysis for Michigan’s Filter First bill demonstrates this. The Filter First program is cheaper in year one and in year ten; in the first year, we found savings of $26 million, and by year ten, it balloons to $331 million. 

There are at least two problems with plumbing replacements: 1) most school districts cannot make the immediate and large upfront investment necessary to replace all plumbing and fixtures necessary; and 2) the brand-new plumbing is problematic because even new fixtures, solder, and fittings are allowed to contain lead (even when labeled “lead-free!”). In contrast, we know filters work when they are certified to remove lead and when they’re installed and maintained properly. 

What is Colorado doing now?

The Department of Public Health and the Environment will continue its voluntary testing program this year. A previous voluntary testing program ran from 2017-2020 and had very low participation, in large part because there was no money to fix any problems that became apparent through testing. The Filter First approach protects the health of children in schools and childcare centers; programs that simply test for lead in drinking water do not.  

Only 67 schools participated in Colorado’s program over the three-year period, and even though the program “prioritized” disproportionately impacted communities, only three schools in these communities participated. Perhaps even more telling, less than 28% of available funds were expended over the life of the program. Understandably, when schools were faced with the difficult circumstance of discovering they had a lead problem but having no money or plan to fix it, most chose to not test.