Muncie Community Schools (MCS) has completed water-sample testing all its facilities, including the old Muncie Area Career Center and the Muncie Fieldhouse. Each building’s fixtures were tested for elevated lead levels as part of a voluntary State program offered to all Indiana public schools and child care facilities.
Overall, 209 fixtures that may be a source of drinking water or for food preparation were tested. Lead found in tap water typically comes from the corrosion of interior plumbing fixtures and materials that contain lead, not usually the municipal water supply.
Of the 209 fixtures tested, four – all at Muncie Central High School – showed elevated lead levels, which is a reading that meets or exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “action level” of 15 parts per billion (ppb). The action level of 15 ppb is not a measure of health effects, but simply serves as a signal to take steps to reduce lead in the water.
As a result of these readings, MCS immediately took the identified fixtures off-line, then replaced them. All these fixtures are now in line with state and federal recommendations.
