Granite Falls School District orders fixture replacements after lead tests find elevated readings
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Summary
District testing of 289 water outlets found 75 readings above 5 ppb and two above the 15 ppb action level; officials say a $70,000 state grant will fund replacement of about 65 fixtures, decommissioning of rarely used outlets and follow-up reinspection required by state authorities.
Granite Falls School District officials said Jan. 14 that recent water-lead testing of district buildings found elevated lead levels at dozens of outlets and that the district will use a state grant to replace fixtures and decommission rarely used taps.
"District wide, they tested 289 outlets," Marshall Cruz told the board, summarizing results from two-week testing done in October with the Washington State Department of Health. He said 75 outlets exceeded 5 parts per billion (ppb), the district's preferred target, and two outlets surpassed the 15 ppb action level that typically triggers immediate remediation.
Cruz said the highest-risk outlets included fixtures not used in years and kitchen "pot fillers" that are now obsolete. "The optimum way to solve the problem is to replace the fixtures from the wall to where it expels the water," he said, explaining the district will replace roughly 65 fixtures and immediately decommission about 10 outlets that are not used for drinking or cooking.
The district applied for and was approved for a $70,000 state grant to pay for parts and contractor labor. Cruz said the state-funded work should allow a plumbing contractor to complete most replacements during a school break to avoid disruption. Once repairs are complete, the district must have the Department of Health reinspect to verify results are at or below about 5 ppb; a formal template report will be prepared for board approval and then submitted to state agencies.
Cruz outlined additional steps the district will take now: turn off or decommission unused fixtures; order standardized replacement parts across sites where practical; schedule contractor work during winter or spring break; and use the state's family-notification template to inform parents about test results, mitigation steps and timelines.
No formal board vote was recorded on the remediation plan during the meeting; Cruz said the district will return to the board with a remediation report and documentation after the work and reinspection are complete. He added the district is subject to state requirements that all outlets capable of producing drinking or cooking water be tested by June 30, 2026, and will retest sites on a multi-year schedule.
Next steps include ordering fixtures, scheduling contractor work during breaks, formalizing the remediation report for board review and submitting reinspection documentation to the Department of Health and OSPI.