MassDEP Water Smart pilot offers free sampling support, lab coverage and school grants to help PWSs meet LCRI

MassDEP’s Water Smart pilot program will provide community public water systems with outreach templates, contact lists, technical assistance and lab cost coverage to help them meet the expanded school and childcare sampling obligations under the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), presenters said in a training webinar.

Alex, a presenter, said MassDEP will provide template outreach materials and initial contact lists to PWSs; systems are expected to review those lists and resubmit any corrections before outreach. UMass Amherst technical assistance providers (TAPs) will help create sampling plans, train PWS and school staff on sample collection and, for many child care facilities, handle sampling entirely on the program side.

Jacqueline, a presenter, described the Water Smart process: a facility applies online, a TAP uses the state LCCA program management tool to create a chain of custody and bottle labels, the TAP schedules sampling and coordinates lab analysis, and results are emailed to the facility and to public health partners and posted to the state portal. "Once your results are analyzed, they are sent to MassDEP. UMass then emails these results to the facility, the Department of Public Health, your local board of health, as well as the PWS and EPA," Jacqueline said.

Presenters emphasized two practical benefits of the pilot: (1) UMass TAPs will assist with fixture mapping, sampling plans and result interpretation, and (2) the pilot covers laboratory analysis costs for participating facilities, which reduces direct testing expenses for PWSs. Alex summarized that coverage: "That's kind of the big drawing factor to this program is that we'll cover all of those costs and you guys won't have to."

The program also connects testing to remediation funding: presenters described a school grant program referenced in the session as School Water Improvement Grants (presenters used the short form verbally as “SWAG” or “SWIG”), which the webinar said can provide about $3,000 per eligible fixture to help pay for point-of-use treatment systems; facilities may resample after installation to verify reductions.

Presenters cautioned attendees that some numeric figures in the live slides were garbled in the recording; program staff encouraged PWSs to rely on the posted materials and follow-up emails for precise statistics. They also acknowledged operational concerns raised by attendees about notification: some PWS operators said they learned of sampling or results only after schools notified them. Jacqueline said program partners aim to share results and fact sheets with PWSs and public health partners, but that mislabeled samples can complicate automated routing and urged systems with concerns to contact the program director listed in the presentation.

How to join: presenters said systems can sign up via the pilot web page, will receive an acceptance email, and should expect a follow-up within about a week that includes the initial facility list and outreach templates in English and Spanish. TAPs will provide additional bilingual resources and may help arrange translations if needed.

Next steps: PWSs that want to reduce testing costs and gain technical support ahead of the LCRI compliance date should consider enrolling in the pilot and review the program materials and templates provided in the session materials tab.