GLITEC’s Free Drinking Water Testing Program Overview • Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council Inc.

Drinking water in the test tube for chemical and microbiological analysis

Sign up to participate

Please complete the form in the “Sign up Here” tab on the left of this page to participate.

A GLITEC employee will contact you with more information about the program after you complete the form.

GLITEC offers free drinking water testing for lead, PFAS, and other heavy metals.

GLITEC has a free drinking water testing program for Tribal childcare centers, after school programs, boys and girls clubs, Tribal schools, and other similar Tribal operated programs and facilities. The program tests for lead, PFAS, and other heavy metals. The goal of this program is to protect the health of all children and people who use education facilities.

All childcare centers and schools should test for contaminants in drinking water to prevent vulnerable people like children from coming into contact with dangerous contaminants like lead, arsenic, and PFAS. The presence of these contaminants in drinking water can lead to serious health issues like cancer, birth complications, and neurological disorders. Many of these contaminants are especially dangerous to children, babies, and pregnant women.

Facilities can have their water tested for all three groups of contaminants:

Lead
PFAS
Additional heavy metals

GLITEC ensures data security, as the results of the testing are strictly between GLITEC and the facility.

By participating in this program, your facility will help make sure that children have safe, clean drinking water.

This program also offers the following:

Free water testing for PFAS, arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals
An incentive up to $1,500 for lead testing
GLITEC’s assistance in interpreting results
GLITEC’s assistance in deciding on remediation efforts (if needed)

Participation is open to all Tribal schools and childcare centers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan (except lead testing). This includes the following Tribally operated facilities:

Childcare centers
Head Start programs
Early Head Start Centers
Elementary schools
Middle schools
Tribally operated schools
Youth programs
After school programs
Daycare centers
Other centers deemed necessary for testing by Tribal leadership

Click on the tabs below to learn more about the different types of testing GLITEC offers.

Lead Testing

GLITEC offers free and voluntary lead testing in drinking water to Tribal schools and childcare facilities in Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

With funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center (GLITEC) is partnering with the Indian Health Service (IHS) to test drinking water in Tribal schools and childcare centers for elevated levels of lead.

Tribal schools and childcare centers in Minnesota and Wisconsin can participate in GLITEC’s lead testing. Agencies located in Michigan, please contact Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan Environmental Services Department at 906-632-6896 ext. 115

Benefits of Participating

There is no safe level of lead in drinking water. By participating in this program, your facility will help minimize the harmful health effects of lead exposure in children. The protection of children’s health and well-being is essential for the next seven generations. This voluntary program provides FREE lead testing in drinking water and offers a monetary incentive up to $1,500 for participating facilities.

GLITEC will support Tribal schools and childcare centers in Minnesota and Wisconsin by:

Providing free lead testing in drinking water
Offering a monetary incentive for participating facilities
Providing virtual educational opportunities
Assisting with planning actions to reduce lead in drinking water

PFAS Testing

GLITEC offers free and voluntary PFAS drinking water testing to all Tribal schools and childcare facilities in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

GLITEC offers free testing for drinking water for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) to all Tribal schools and childcare facilities in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. PFAS are a group of chemicals used to make coatings and products that resist oil, stains, heat, grease, and water. Many PFAS are a concern because they:

Do not break down in the environment
Move through soils and contaminate drinking water
Buildup in fish and wildlife
Can affect people’s health

Additional Heavy Metals Testing

GLITEC offers free heavy metal screening is to all Tribal schools and childcare facilities in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

GLITEC offers free heavy metals screening of drinking water: Aluminum, Arsenic, Cadmium, Calcium, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Nickel, Strontium, Vanadium, Zinc and Hardness. Heavy metals can contaminate water sources through groundwater movement and surface water seepage and run-off. Consumption of high levels of heavy metals is a concern because they can cause the following health concerns:

Liver, kidney, and intestinal damage
Anemia
Cancer