Colorado's Test and Chase Law Turns to the Chase

In the summer of 2022, Colorado passed its first law requiring testing for lead in school drinking water. The law requires preschool through 5^th grade schools, child care centers, and family child care homes¹ to test their drinking water sources for lead and take certain actions if the lead levels are 5 parts per billion (ppb) or higher. Facilities completed the first round of testing in May 2023 and unfortunately the results mirror what we’ve seen in other states; when you look for lead in drinking water, you often find it. Experts agree that there is no safe level of lead, with even low levels of exposure causing serious, irreversible damage to the developing brains and nervous systems of babies and young children. 

As of this posting the following results were reported: 

• 51,306 locations were sampled in a total of 2,532 facilities. 

• 3,712 sample locations tested above 5 ppb of lead. 
• Only 371 sample locations (142 facilities) implemented a remediation action—that’s just 10.0% of exceeding locations that have been remediated, over four months after all initial samples were due. 
• Only 158 of the 371 sample locations reported a follow-up confirmation sample; and all follow-up confirmation samples were below 5 ppb. 
• 3,164 sample locations’ remediation action is still listed as “underway.” 
• 16,194 samples were at or above 1 ppb.  

Eight hundred and fifteen sample locations had lead levels above EPA’s lead action level of 15 ppb. The highest sample result, at 4,500 ppb, occurred at a school drinking water fountain. Thankfully, that water fountain was replaced and follow up sampling showed a result of less than 1 ppb. 

While Colorado’s law isn’t as health protective as the “filter first” approach for which NRDC advocates, it is a step in the right direction. Specifically, Colorado’s law includes an action level of 5 ppb as opposed to the EPA’s 15 ppb, and includes testing in family child care homes, which many families rely on and which are more likely to have lead service lines than schools. The law also requires quick action and prompt remediation; if an exceedance is found, the source must be shut off as soon as possible, employees and parents must be notified within two days, and the source must be remediated within 90 days. Unfortunately, the current law does not require the installation of filters for remediation.  

We urge the use of filters instead of the drawn-out process of testing water, attempting to identify sources of lead in the system, conducting repeat testing, ad infinitum, largely because we know that when we look for lead in school drinking water we find it, and because children are the most vulnerable to its effects. Also, lead testing can be inaccurate and might not capture the full scope of the problem. Filters also give facilities and the state more certainty; it is easier to plan to install filters and maintain them than it is to operate under the uncertainty of finding lead in drinking water, attempting to identify and remediate the source, and retesting. CDPHE has allowed a host of remediation actions under the new law, summarized in the table below. 

While the law requires prompt remediation, that doesn’t appear to be taking place. Over 150 locations sampled nearly a year ago are still listed as having a remediation action “underway.” 

Children need access to safe drinking water in the places they spend the majority of their waking hours, and families should feel secure knowing that their children have safe drinking water. Providing filtered water is the best way to do that, and short of that, prompt and thorough remediation is key. The state should work to expand the existing law by requiring the use of filters and testing the remaining schools and family child care homes. By using filters in the facilities where the smallest Coloradans spend so much of their time, we can help ensure they’re protected from the dangers of lead. 

¹Family child care homes were given the option to opt-out of testing, and many did.

²Signage does not constitute actual remediation.