FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) — The Mount Blue Regional School District canceled school on Friday after test results showed elevated levels of lead in nearly half of the drinking fountains and faucets.

The tests at the eight schools were completed at the end of March following Maine’s new law that requires fixtures in the state’s schools used for drinking water and food preparation to be tested.

Lead levels above 4 parts per billion exceed the new state guidelines and are recommended for mitigation or remediation, WMTW-TV reported. If the lead level exceeds 15 ppb, the solution may require more extensive fixes, the school district said in a release.

Of the 117 fixtures tested, 38 had lead levels between 4 and 15 ppb, while 16 were above 15 ppb, the school district said.

Superintendent Christian Elkington told the news station that there are signs that the lead contamination for many fixtures appears to be coming from faucets, not the water source, and that the district had acquired more than 10,000 bottles of water by Friday afternoon.

“We think if we change up some of those faucets and maybe add some other filtration systems, that we’ll be in good shape,” Elkington said. “It will cost a little bit of money, but nobody wants to drink lead.”

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