Beyond Installation: How CMMS Makes Michigan’s Filter First Compliance Manageable
The Michigan Filter First law takes aim at protecting children from the serious threat of lead exposure—a worthy and important goal. However, schools across the state now face the challenge of installing lead-reducing filters on all consumptive fixtures and testing filtered water by the 2025-2026 school year deadline, creating potential financial and logistical hurdles. And let’s be real, this isn’t just about slapping on some filters and calling it a day. Schools need to get serious about tracking, maintaining, and documenting these systems if they want to stay on the right side of compliance.
Instead of viewing the challenge as a burden, it’s possible to view it as an opportunity – if you’ve got the right plan in hand.
Your Drinking Water Management Plan doesn’t have to be a headache. A modern CMMS in conjunction with inspection software should enable your school or district to manage these regulatory demands effectively.
Here’s how these solutions can assist schools in navigating the complexities of the Filter First law, while addressing the needs of key stakeholders:
Mapping Your Fixtures and Filters
CMMS and inspection software can help schools maintain an up-to-date list of all drinking water sources requiring filtration, ensuring that all potential lead exposure points are identified and managed effectively. No more hunting through binders or spreadsheet rows wondering which fountains have been addressed. Everything lives in one central platform that your whole team can access. Even better, if your CMMS has the ability to show asset relationships, you can show not only where a fixture will be shut off or rendered permanently inoperable, but also immediately understand the downstream effects of each shutoff valve to other fixtures and rooms.
Fixture mapping in action:
Facility managers can use the software to map out all drinking fountains and kitchen faucets, tagging each with filter installation dates and maintenance schedules.
Scheduling and Tracking
The filters are installed. Great! But that’s just the beginning of your compliance journey. The real challenge is managing the entire lifecycle and understanding the cost of maintaining your water safety program for years to come. These tools can automate the scheduling of regular filter replacements and inspections, ensuring compliance with the required frequency and protocols. They can also track the status of each filter – from installation to replacement – and document maintenance history.
Scheduling and tracking in action:
Imagine a system that automatically schedules filter changes every six months and sends reminders to maintenance supervisors, while also logging filter performance data.
Documentation and Reporting
Let’s talk about the part of Filter First compliance nobody wants to think about: the paperwork. The state requires regular filter changes, annual lead testing, detailed maintenance records, and compliance reporting.
The right CMMS and inspection software combination can streamline the documentation process by maintaining records of all filter installations, replacements, and water quality tests. This makes it easier to provide the necessary information to state authorities, as well as to generate the compliance reports required by the Filter First law.
Documentation and reporting in action:
An environmental health and safety officer can generate a comprehensive report that includes all filter maintenance data and water quality results, ready for submission to regulatory bodies.
Public Education and Outreach
The platforms can be used to manage and track public education efforts, ensuring that all school communities receive the necessary information about the filtration systems and where the district is in their progress of ensuring all fixtures have filter systems. Graphs and reports can easily embed into emails, PDFs, or websites for sharing.
Public outreach in action
A school administrator can place easily understandable charts and graphs in newsletters and educational materials to parents and staff.
Budget Management
These tools can help schools manage the costs associated with implementing and maintaining filtration systems, tracking expenses and helping to forecast future budget needs. With the right software, you can document filter specifications and installation dates, schedule and manage ongoing maintenance, document and organize annual lead testing results, and maintain compliance documentation in one place.
Budget management in action
The software tracks filter replacement costs across all schools in a district, helping administrators allocate resources efficiently and plan for future expenditures.
By leveraging CMMS and inspection software, schools can transform the daunting challenge of Filter First compliance into a streamlined, manageable process. Not only will you ensure a safer environment for students and staff, but you’ll also gain the confidence that comes from knowing you’re prepared for inspections at any time.
AkitaBox Can Help
Don’t let compliance become your full-time job—let technology do the heavy lifting while you focus on what matters most: education. Ready to see how the right software solution can simplify your Filter First compliance journey? Take the first step toward peace of mind today.
