New York lead-in-water testing for schools & childcare

Applies to

both

Action level

Schools: 5 ppb. Child care (OCFS): 15 ppb.

Frequency

Schools: triennial (every 3 years). Child care: periodic testing with annual reporting (verify interval with OCFS).

State agency

New York State Dept of Health (NYSDOH), Bureau of Water Supply Protection / Drinking Water Protection Program

State program

https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/

Official source

https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/lead/lead_testing_of_school_drinking_water.htm

Schools: Public Health Law 1110 mandates triennial first-draw lead testing of all potable outlets in every occupied school building (public/charter/BOCES); action level 5 ppb (effective 12/22/2022). Child care: OCFS Lead Testing in Drinking Water Program is a WIIN-funded voluntary program for licensed/registered facilities, not a statewide mandate. Sources: health.ny.gov lead testing of school drinking water; ocfs.ny.gov/programs/childcare/lead-program.php

Find a certified lab in New York

PATHWAY TO FIND A CERTIFIED LAB FOR LEAD-IN-DRINKING-WATER TESTING How drinking water lab certification works (VERIFIED, EPA): - Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, STATES hold primacy and run the certification of laboratories that analyze drinking water. Public water systems must use a state-certified lab, and EPA approves the analytical methods while states manage the certification process itself. EPA does NOT test residential/commercial water on request, and does not run a single national "find a lab" search for drinking water; it routes you to your state program. (Source: epa.gov/dwlabcert; epa.gov/lead/can-i-get-my-water-tested-lead) - EPA's own lead-in-water guidance states: testing is the only reliable way to detect lead (you cannot see/taste/smell it), and "A list of certified laboratories are available from your state or local drinking water authority or on EPA's website." STEP-BY-STEP PATHWAY: 1. Start at EPA's directory of state certification programs (the primary, authoritative entry point): https://www.epa.gov/dwlabcert/contact-information-certification-programs-and-certified-laboratories-drinking-water . This page links to a PDF and to each state's drinking-water lab certification program and contacts. 2. Use the EPA PDF "State Certification Programs Certify Laboratories to Conduct Drinking Water Analyses": https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/state-cert-programs-certify-labs-to-conduct-drinking-water-analyses.pdf 3. Contact your STATE drinking-water program (or local water authority) to obtain its current list of state-certified labs and ensure the lab is certified for LEAD in drinking water specifically. NATIONAL LOCATORS (cross-state lab search tools), use to confirm/locate accredited labs, then verify state certification: - TNI/NELAP "LAMS" (National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Management System): searchable by lab name, TNI lab code, location, state, and accreditation body; covers environmental matrices including DRINKING WATER. Search: https://lams.nelac-institute.org/search . NELAP accreditation is delivered through state/AB accreditation bodies (e.g., FL, IL, KS, LA, MN, NH, NJ, NY, OK, OR, PA, TX, UT, VA). NELAP Accreditation Bodies list: https://nelac-institute.org/content/NELAP/accred-bodies.php - A2LA (American Association for Laboratory Accreditation): Directory of Accredited Organizations, searchable by organization/scope, including environmental/water testing scopes. Directory: https://customer.a2la.org/index.cfm?event=directory.index CRITICAL ACCURACY CAVEAT, do NOT use NLLAP for water: EPA's National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program (NLLAP) accredits labs ONLY for lead in PAINT CHIPS, DUST WIPES, and SOIL, NOT drinking water. Do not present NLLAP (epa.gov/lead/national-lead-laboratory-accreditation-program-list) as a locator for lead-in-WATER labs. NLLAP recognizes accrediting bodies AIHA-LAP, A2LA, Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation, ANAB/ACLASS, and International Accreditation Service. Note A2LA appears in both contexts (paint/dust/soil via NLLAP AND, separately, environmental water testing via its general accreditation), so always check the lab's specific scope/matrix. BOTTOM-LINE GUIDANCE FOR SCHOOLS/CHILDCARE: Use a lab that is certified BY YOUR STATE for lead in drinking water. Begin at the EPA state-certification directory, then verify via TNI LAMS or A2LA. Confirm the lab's scope explicitly covers lead in drinking water (not paint/dust/soil).

• New York drinking-water lab certification
• EPA, Contact Information for Certification Programs and Certified Laboratories for Drinking Water (state programs directory), Primary authoritative entry point. Links to each STATE drinking-water lab certification program and contacts; states certify labs to test drinking water (incl. lead). Use this first.
• EPA, State Certification Programs PDF (state-by-state lab certification links), EPA PDF listing each state's drinking-water lab certification program; companion to the directory page above.
• TNI/NELAP LAMS, National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Management System, National searchable directory of NELAP-accredited environmental labs (search by name, lab code, location, state, accreditation body); covers drinking water matrices. Verify the lab's lead-in-drinking-water scope and confirm state certification.
• TNI, NELAP Accreditation Bodies list, List of state/AB accreditation bodies that grant NELAP accreditation (e.g., FL, IL, KS, LA, MN, NH, NJ, NY, OK, OR, PA, TX, UT, VA).
• A2LA, Directory of Accredited Organizations, Searchable directory of A2LA-accredited testing labs and their scopes (includes environmental/water testing). Check the specific scope/matrix for lead in drinking water.
• EPA, National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program (NLLAP) list (PAINT/DUST/SOIL ONLY, NOT water), CAUTION: NLLAP accredits labs for lead in PAINT CHIPS, DUST WIPES, and SOIL only, NOT drinking water. Do NOT use as a water-lab locator. Included here to prevent misuse.

For the full federal framework (EPA 3Ts, LCRI action level, WIIN funding), see the lead-in-water overview.

New York requires periodic lead-in-water testing in public schools (Education Law §1110) and addresses lead in licensed child day care. Labs analyzing those samples should hold New York State ELAP accreditation (administered by the Wadsworth Center) for lead in drinking water. Because ELAP scopes are renewed periodically, confirm a lab's current certificate covers lead in the drinking-water category before you submit. Use first-draw sampling per EPA's 3Ts, keep your results documentation for your compliance file, and if a deadline is involved, confirm turnaround in writing. We only list labs we could re-confirm in the state accreditation system; each row links to its verification record.