New nationwide study finds Georgia students may be ingesting lead from drinking water

WASHINGTON — A new report from the Environment America Research and Policy Center found that children in Georgia and across the country could be ingesting lead at their schools.

According to the report, Georgia scored an “F” in keeping kids safe from lead poisoning after testing drinking water at schools nationwide.

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“These toxic pipes we’ve heard about, there are literally millions of them across the country,” John Rumpler, lead researcher of the EARP project, said. “We are trusting you to ensure that our kids have a safe, healthy environment for learning; the least they should expect is that the water is safe for their kids to drink.”

Rumpler said the findings are especially concerning because lead is very toxic and can be damaging to kids.

According to the report, some schools are fixing taps after scoring a positive test for lead concentration in the water, but researchers say lead levels in water can also vary.

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Researchers said they believe schools should take more proactive steps to prevent exposure, including replacing all taps used for drinking or cooking with filters certified to remove lead.

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“Replacing lead-bearing parts over time so that we’re actually getting the lead out of our schools’ water delivery systems,” Rumpler said. “Especially where there are these lead service lines, these toxic pipes we’ve heard about, there are literally millions of them across the country.”

For more information and to access the report, click here.

Channel 2 Action News reached out to the Georgia Department of Education for a statement.

“The Georgia Department of Education is actively working to provide resources to schools and districts to identify and eliminate lead exposure in schools. We have partnered with RTI International, an independent nonprofit research institute, since 2021 to run the Clean Water for Georgia Kids program. The goal of the program is to identify and get the lead out of drinking and cooking water where children learn and play across Georgia. The program is voluntary and currently enrolling public schools and childcare centers across Georgia, and is free to those schools and centers thanks to a federal Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) grant. Schools and childcare centers interested in participating can visit cleanwaterforuskids.org/georgia.”

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