Water in half of San Francisco Unified School District tested positive for lead

We’ve visualized the lead problem in San Francisco schools, and the picture is an alarming one.

On Oct. 10, CALPIRG Education Fund released an online interactive map of lead tests done in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) for the 2017-2018 school year. It revealed that drinking water in 66 of the district’s schools tested positive for lead, with results ranging from 1 part per billion to 660 parts per billion.

“Given that even low levels of lead exposure can cause irreversible loss of IQ, the San Francisco Unified School District should take action to get the lead out wherever it is getting into drinking water,” said Laura Deehan, public health advocate with CALPIRG Education Fund.

SFUSD has not completed testing on all of its schools’ water fountains and taps, so the results could grow even worse. CALPIRG Education Fund has provided a toolkit for communities to use to help get the lead out of schools.

Read about the findings and see our interactive map here.

Photo Caption: CALPIRG Education Fund’s interactive map shows lead contamination in San Francisco’s schools.

Photo Credit: Our interactive map