School District Plans to Shut Off Water For Testing

Published by admin on Wed, 03/18/2026 - 6:00am

The Milbank School District plans to conduct water testing on Wednesday, March 18. Water access within all facilities will be shut off, and it will not be turned back on until approximately 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 19, in order to complete testing.

Milbank OST will utilize Unity Health and Fitness during the morning of March 19 until approximately 11 a.m. when testing is completed.

Water testing helps keep students and staff healthy and safe. Lead is a heavy metal that can cause health problems if ingested, especially for young children. Water doesn’t naturally contain lead. However, if a building has older pipes, faucets, or fountains made with lead materials, lead can enter the water through the fixtures.

Professionals will test water from all faucets or fixtures used for drinking, cooking, or washing dishes. Testers will take two samples from each location. The first sample, which is taken after the fixture hasn’t been used for at least eight hours, tests whether water absorbs lead when sitting in the faucets and fountains. The second sample, which is taken after the water runs for 30 seconds, tests whether the pipe right behind the fixture might include lead.

All samples recorded will be tested by a lab that has been certified to meet Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements. When the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources knows the testing results, they will communicate with the Milbank School District on next steps.

The EPA recommends taking action if the amount of lead is greater than 10 parts per billion. If that level of lead is found, the Milbank School District will take steps to remove fixtures made with lead materials or make sure those water sources aren’t used for drinking.

Receiving grant funding to cover the cost of the testing, Milbank is one of the first schools in the state to test its plumbing infrastructure for lead. All South Dakota school will eventually have to test their water for lead contamination, but Milbank’s early response means the district may receive funding to help remove any faucets, fountains, or pipes made with lead materials identified during the testing process.