Triennial Water Safety Check
Maryland law requires that schools test all occupied buildings that receive water from a public utility every three years for the presence of lead in all drinking water outlets. In the spring of 2021, Park School completed testing throughout our buildings. Maryland has recently updated its safety threshold requiring community notification and remediation. Based on the new standard (the previous Maryland threshold was 20 parts per billion (ppb); the current EPA standard is 15 ppb; the updated 2022 Maryland standard is 5 ppb), we are providing this update. No drinking water fountains, ice machines, or any outlets used for food preparation tested for elevated lead. Of the 212 outlets tested, 58 outlets indicated elevated levels of lead in the water over the new 5 ppb standard. (Based on the previous standard, the total number of outlets would be nine.) These outlets are restricted to sinks — again, no drinking water fountains, ice machines, or any outlets used for food preparation. Please find a list of the outlets here. Per the recommendations of the Maryland Department of the Environment, we have posted signs indicating that the outlets are for hand washing only. In the meantime, please know that all sources of drinking water in our buildings are safe.