Drinking Water Safety at Birmingham Public Schools

Under the recommendations made to schools in August of 2016 by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), the Birmingham Public Schools (BPS) acted on a plan to test water sources in all of our buildings.

The latest testing of water at Birmingham Public Schools involved the newly installed bottle filling stations. These results are reported below.  Results for previous rounds of testing can be found in the menu to the left of this page under 2018 and 2016 testing results.

The district continued to employ TRACE Analytical to secure water samples at each of our district buildings. All sampling is done in accordance with the recommendations/guidelines as provided in the MDEQ guidance document. All testing is done in a State of Michigan certified testing laboratory.

Bottle Fillers

We encourage students to bring their own water bottles and use these stations to meet their drinking water needs while they are at school. Taps that are not designated for drinking water should be used for handwashing and non-potable uses only and are marked accordingly.

BPS maintains a regular filter cartridge replacement program, and each of the units has a flow indicator showing when the filter cartridge must be changed.

EGLE is expected to take action in set new guidelines after the Michigan Legislature approves laws concerning water testing at Schools and Child Care facilities.  We anticipate that the current actionable standards will be lowered and that a frequency timetable for testing and reporting will be set. The current testing and actionable level standards are:

• The lead action level in water is 0.015 milligrams per liter (also known as 15 parts per billion).  However, the action level for lead is not a health standard. For this reason, the MDEQ is recommending that schools take action to lower the lead in their drinking water if the test results are over 5 ppb, which is the bottled water standard.
• The copper action level is 1.3 mg/L (1,300 ppb).  Prior to August 2016 there was no recommendation for the testing of copper levels in water.

The August 1, 2016 memo from the MDEQ (EGLE) is linked here:

MDEQ Guidance on Drinking Water Sampling for Lead and Copper at Schools and Daycares on Community Water Supplies.

Berkshire Middle School
District Fixture Report 12-10-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 12-10-19

Beverly Elementary
District Fixture Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19

Bingham Farms Elementary
District Fixture Report 12-10-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 12-10-19

Birmingham Covington School (BCS)
District Fixture Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19

Derby Middle School
District Fixture Report 12-10-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 12-10-19

Greenfield Elementary
District Fixture Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19

Groves High School
District Fixture Report 12-30-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 12-30-19

Harlan Elementary
District Fixture Report 12-10-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 12-10-19

Pembroke Elementary
District Fixture Report 12-10-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 12-10-19

Pierce Elementary
District Fixture Report 12-10-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 12-10-19

Quarton Elementary
District Fixture Report 10-23-19 
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19

Midvale Center / NEXT
District Fixture Report 12-10-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 12-10-19

West Maple Elementary
District Fixture Report 10-23-19
TRACE Analytical Labs Report 10-23-19