Drinking Water Quality Program

Our Commitment to Safe & Health Drinking WaterThe Auburn School District is committed to providing safe, healthy drinking water for our students, staff, and community. Through ongoing water quality monitoring, testing, and timely response to identified concerns, we work to ensure that drinking water throughout our schools and facilities meets established health and safety standards. Maintaining safe drinking water is an important part of our commitment to creating healthy, welcoming environments where our students can learn and our staff can work with confidence.

Our Testing Program

Testing is an important part of the Auburn School District’s commitment to providing safe and healthy drinking water for our students and staff. Regular testing helps identify drinking water outlets that may contribute to lead exposure and allows the District to take appropriate action when concerns are identified.

• Auburn School District Testing: The District has conducted drinking water testing at our schools as part of our ongoing water quality program. Testing results currently available on the District’s website include results from Summer 2018 and June 2019. These reports provide detailed information about the locations and fixtures tested and the results received.
• Washington State Requirements: In 2021, Washington State established requirements for lead testing in drinking water at public K–12 schools. School buildings built, or with all plumbing replaced, before 2016 were required to complete initial testing of applicable drinking water outlets by June 30, 2026. Beginning July 1, 2026, qualifying schools entered the first five-year retesting cycle, which runs through June 30, 2031. Testing will continue at least once every five years thereafter. Under current state requirements, drinking water outlets include locations where students have access to water that may reasonably be used for drinking, cooking, or food preparation, such as drinking fountains, bottle fillers, certain classroom sinks, kitchen and cafeteria fixtures, and other applicable outlets.
• Responding to Testing Results: Washington State has established an action level of 5 parts per billion (ppb) for lead in school drinking water. When a test result is greater than 5 ppb, schools are required to take appropriate mitigation or remediation measures. Depending on the result and the fixture involved, these measures may include restricting use of an outlet, replacing a fixture, installing filtration, replacing plumbing components, or conducting additional testing.

The Auburn School District will continue testing and responding to water quality results in accordance with Washington State requirements and Department of Health guidance. We are committed to keeping our students, staff, families, and community informed while maintaining safe and healthy learning and working environments.

Ongoing Efforts

The Auburn School District remains committed to maintaining safe and healthy drinking water throughout our schools and facilities. Our ongoing efforts include continued water quality testing, reviewing results, addressing identified concerns, and taking appropriate corrective action when needed. We will continue to follow Washington State requirements and Department of Health guidance while keeping our students, staff, families, and community informed about water quality efforts and testing results.

Testing Requirements

RCW 28A.210.410 and RCW 43.70.830 require all drinking water outlets in public schools built, or with all plumbing replaced, before 2016 be tested for lead at least once between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2026. Retesting shall occur at least once every five years thereafter. Drinking water sampling and testing must be done in partnership with DOH or contracted through an accredited lab.

Action Plan Requirements

If test results reveal elevated lead levels above 5 parts per billion (ppb) at any outlet used for drinking or cooking, an action plan must be developed. If your school has an existing action plan, you have the option of updating the existing plan to meet the following requirements instead of creating a new one. 

Per RCW 28A.210.410, a school’s action plan must meet the following requirements:

• The action plan shall be developed in consultation with DOH or your local health jurisdiction and in accordance with DOH’s technical guidance. 

• Consult with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) when seeking funding for remediation activities. The OSPI Lead in Water Remediation Grant is a potential source of funding.

• For testing that occurred after July 25, 2021, the deadline for adopting the action plan is six months after receiving elevated lead test results.

The action plan must include:

1. Mitigation measures implemented since receiving elevated lead test results.
2. A schedule of remediation activities that adhere to the technical guidance. The schedule may be based on the availability of state or federal funding for remediation activities.
3. A plan for post-remediation sampling and testing to confirm remediation activities have reduced lead concentrations at drinking water outlets to 5 or fewer ppb.

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