Washington State School Drinking Water Fixture Cost Analysis

Washington law requires schools to test drinking water for lead and replace failing fixtures.

Estimating the cost of testing and remediating lead in Washington school drinking water

What does it cost to remove lead from drinking water in schools? The Washington State Legislature sought a reliable estimate of what it would cost to test and remediate lead-contaminated drinking water fixtures statewide. At the Legislature’s request, the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) engaged Greene Economics, EHS International (EHSI), and PS2 Engineering to develop a statewide cost estimate for the program.

We combined school water-testing data from the Washington State Department of Health, engineering cost data, information from school district building coordinators, and data from OSPI to understand the costs schools would face. Our team analyzed more than 31,000 water samples from 162 school districts of different sizes. The study looked at 12 school districts, representing a mix of large, medium, and small districts. We used data from these districts to estimate the costs of testing drinking water fixtures, replacing fixtures with lead levels above 5 parts per billion (ppb), and re-testing after remediation.

Using the district-level estimates, we developed a statewide cost model that accounted for differences in district size and building area. The analysis estimated an average cost of $517,736 for a large school district, $225,300 for a medium district, and $47,670 for a small district for a full round of testing and fixture replacement. Applied across Washington’s 295 school districts, the estimated statewide cost is $48.4 million per five-year testing and remediation cycle.

The analysis gave OSPI a detailed, statewide estimate of the resources required to test and remediate lead-contaminated drinking water fixtures. Our final report provides the statewide estimate along with district-size estimates and supporting cost tables that OSPI can use to understand and plan for the costs of the program.