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Safe Water At School

Mehlville School District is committed to the safety and well-being of our students and staff. In alignment with that commitment and in compliance with the new Missouri state law, Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act, we have worked with a professional environmental consulting firm, SCI Engineering, Inc., to test our water this winter.

Specifically, each drinking and food preparation source in our schools and buildings was sampled and tested to determine if the lead concentration in the water was above the state's new required action level of 5 parts per billion (ppb), which is equal to five micrograms per liter. The 5 ppb level required by the state is a stricter threshold than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recommended action level of 15 ppb.

The law specifies that all preschool through 12th-grade schools that receive state funding have until August 1, 2024, to complete testing of all drinking water and food preparation outlets.

  • The EPA standard for acceptable lead levels in drinking water is less than 15 ppb (parts per billion).
  • The Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act requires that school building water sources contain a lead content of less than 5 ppb.
  • If all tested water sources in a building test less than 5 ppb, that building will not be required to test again for a 5-year period.
  • If a water source is identified to be producing lead levels greater than 5 ppb, annual testing will be required for that building until remediation efforts are proven successful.

The district is responsible for testing water sources that are defined as drinking water sources or water sources utilized for food preparation. All other non-applicable water sources will have signage installed to indicate the water is non-potable and not intended to be a source of drinking water.

Additional resources

Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act
Basic information about lead in drinking water
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
St. Louis County Department of Health lead information

Testing Results and Remediation Plans

Beginning in December 2023, each of our buildings had its drinking and food preparation water outlets tested, including hand-washing sinks and ice machines. The water outlets were tested by SCI Engineering, Inc., which collected “first draw” samples at each potable water source. This means the water sample was taken from each fixture after it had remained stagnant for at least eight hours. Results were provided to the district in early April.

Overall, 848 water outlets were tested across the district and 84.2% (714) met the stricter, new Missouri statutory level of 5 ppb or less. Since then, all outlets have been remediated, labeled as non-potable or capped.

To view testing results by school or location, please use the links below. You will be able to see testing results and our remediation plan. As we work to address any water outlets that do not yet meet the Missouri statutory level of 5 ppb or less, we will update these pages for follow-up test results.

Testing results by location