Butler County will be testing the water for its buildings to ensure the lead content is not too high.

The county commissioners Wednesday hired the company Gannett Fleming to collect water samples that will be tested for an amount not to exceed $2,000.

County solicitor Mike English said the odds are slim there is an issue due to the supply coming from public water systems as opposed to wells.

“We felt we were OK,” English said.

However, he said the county wanted to be proactive.

“It is possible to have lead problems even if you are on a public water supply,” English said.

He stressed there would not automatically be a crisis if the testing finds lead.

“We shouldn't panic if it would come back there is lead in the water,” English said.

He explained all water has some lead content.

English added if any site is found to have too much lead in the water, there still would be no reason to panic.

“It's long-term exposure,” he said.

English stressed the testing is not required by law.

John Campbell, director of county facilities and operations, said in an interview the water testing will cover water fountains and kitchen areas.

“We're not going to test every fixture,” Campbell said.

Along with lead, the testing will look for copper. Campbell said a certain amount of copper is indicative of water that may be too corrosive, which is a sign there may be too much lead.

He said the Slippery Rock and Cranberry Township district court offices, two of the four owned by the county, would be excluded because those buildings are not old enough to have water supply problems.

The Butler and Butler Township district court offices are the other two county-owned buildings.

Lead in drinking water became a major issue at the beginning of the year when the results of 2016 testing at Butler School District showed high lead levels.

Following the fallout in that district — which eventually resulted in staff departures and an ongoing criminal investigation into an alleged cover up — other districts underwent testing.

South Butler School District subsequently found too much lead in some water fixtures, necessitating corrective action.