ATLANTA -- On Wednesday, Senator Vincent Fort introduced a bill to require every district to test its water for lead contamination.
The CDC says there is no safe level of lead for children - yet most school districts couldn't tell you what's in the water coming out of their fountains and faucets. That's why Senator Fort wants both public and private schools to be required to test for it -- as well as daycare centers across the state.
The Atlanta Public School System was the first to begin testing all of its water sources. When 11Alive's Rebecca Lindstrom started analyzing their data, she discovered fountains or faucets at six schools built after the lead free act. The act was supposed to protect children from contaminated drinking water but these locations still tested positive for high lead levels.
"When I began hearing about and honestly, you know, saw your report about APS and how APS stepped up to the plate and did the right thing, it made me think that we needed to do some legislation," Fort said. "I was astounded to learn that not all school systems test for lead."
APS has since finished its testing and fixed the problems found. Since 11Alive started raising awareness on the issue, DeKalb and Fulton counties have started testing all of their school water sources as well.
Fort's bill would leave it to the Department of Education to create the rules on how the testing should be done and how often. But he made clear that, whatever the results, parents should be notified immediately.
