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Keep Drinking Water Safe

We conducted extensive testing of more than 1,700 water sources across NKC Schools' facilities.

The Missouri state legislature recently passed the "Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act," a new law to ensure safe drinking water in all schools throughout the state. To ensure safe drinking water in all North Kansas City Schools buildings, the district conducted extensive water testing in December 2023 and January 2024. All water sources used for drinking and/or food preparation (cooking or cleaning) were tested by a professional environmental consulting firm. 

Testing sought to identify any water sources in our facilities at or above the new five 5 parts per billion (ppb) (5 micrograms per liter) standard. The 5 ppb level now required by the state is below the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended action level of 15 ppb.

The primary purpose of the new law is to ensure safety in drinking and food preparation. As part of our continued commitment to the well-being of all students and staff, NKC Schools also chose to perform additional tests of water sources intended for hand washing, cleaning or other non-drinking purposes, such as classroom sinks. In total, more than 1,700 water sources were sampled for testing. This webpage provides results from all testing, remediation plans, and information to keep our community fully informed about NKC Schools' water systems.

For more information, please review the regulations and community resources listed to the right.

Resources

Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services: Health Effects of Lead

Kansas City Health Department: Testing Homes and Children for Lead

Environmental Protection Agency: Health Effects of Exposures to Lead in Drinking Water

Timeline

December 2023 -
January 2023

Testing of water sources occurred at 88 sites.

Early April 2024

Delivery of majority of testing results; extended waiting period due to high demand from school districts statewide.

When Results Were Received

Any water sources identified as above the action level will be immediately remediated, whether by adding appropriate signage or turning off completely.

August 2024

All identified water sources >5 ppb will be fully remediated on a long-term scale and re-tested to ensure the fix was effective.

Remediation Plans

Once results are received, the district will take immediate steps to restrict access to all water sources as identified through testing.

  • All drinking and cooking sources exceeding the action level of 5 ppb will immediately be turned off until they can be successfully remediated in a more permanent manner.
  • Appropriate signage will immediately be placed on non-drinking water sources exceeding action levels until they can be successfully remediated in a more permanent manner.
  • NKC Schools' Operations Department will evaluate each source to develop the best possible long-term remediation plan. This could include removing or replacing equipment or inserting industry-standard filters certified for lead reduction. As required by statute and to ensure successful remediation, the district will retest all water sources once repaired. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Test Results & Reports

Summary results identifying water sources above 5 ppb and the full report from each site are available below.