As the new school year begins, Oakland is carrying out an aggressive strategy to limit lead in water by expanding water testing, installing filtered water stations and adopting a lead limit of 5 parts per billion, lower than the state and federal limit of 15 parts per billion.
Oakland Unified is among the CA districts that have adopted lead limits for their drinking water that are more stringent than those in a new state law that requires schools to have their water tested for the toxic metal. Berkeley Unified has adopted a 1 part per billion standard, a limit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. San Diego Unified has adopted a 5 parts per billion limit and is looking to borrow $45 million to further lower its lead standard to 1 part per billion by 2020.
