Flint City Water Crisis Case Study

Flint in Michigan is located 70 Miles away from the shores of large fresh water bodies, the Great Lakes. Despite this close proximity to the fresh water bodies, the residents have not been able to get the clean water. The water supply of Flint in Michigan in the United States has undergone serious water contamination crisis. The water crisis started in April 2014 (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, 2016). The contamination of drinking water began when the source of water was changed from the treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River. This later led to a serious contamination of the water due to lead contamination hence creating more danger in the public health. The Flint River had a corrosive nature and caused lead from the old pipes to leach into the water supply. This caused heavy metals in the water supply. This posed serious health problems. For example, six thousand to twelve thousand children were exposed to the contaminated water. The blood-lead level in children increased. The alteration in the water source was the main reason behind the water crisis in Flint.

The article, “Lead Levels Remain High in Flint’s Water” by Matt Davenport explores the increased lead contamination in the Flint, Michigan water source. In April of 2014, high levels of bacteria, and fecal matter were detected in the water of Flint, Michigan. While the levels of bacteria decreased, the city’s water still breaks the federal rule for lead levels. A series of tests conducted by Marc A. Edwards was able to show that the city’s contaminated water was corroding pipes, which leached lead into the water. Because Edwards was able to inform the public about the contaminated water source, Michigan officials have taken steps to improve Flint’s water quality. For example, the water-pipes were re-routed to carry water from Detroit instead

The inaccessibility of clean water has burdened Flint Michigan in recent years; however it is not algal bloom or overflowing sewers that has contaminated local water sources, rather it is highly corrosive water that destroyed old lead pipes. Flint, Michigan is located a little over an hour north of the lively city of Detroit. Flint’s population totals around 100,000 citizens. This city has attracted nationwide attention, in the last few years, as economic despair and widespread water contamination continues to burden the suburb to this day. Economic tension in Flint surfaced in 2011, when the state’s auditing determined that Flint was buried by economic ruin: precisely a $25 million deficit. As a result, in April of 2015, the water supply

With the upcoming presidential election, this year there is one very unnerving fact that has received overwhelming bipartisan recognition; America has a serious problem with infrastructure and something must be done. Across the country, dams, roads, sewage systems and bridges were built with Works Progress Administration funds in the 1930s. Seventy years later, they are in despair. As a nation, we must address Americas’ failing infrastructure and close the ever-increasing infrastructure deficit before the backbone of America crumbles right under our own two feet. To do so U.S. policymakers must act now to raise funds, without increasing our national debt. No intervention by the government will lead to a continuance of deteriorating the health

The Flint Water Crisis began in April 2014 when the city switched its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure. However, several environmental disasters (from automakers, chemical, coal and agriculture industries) over the course of century played a systemic role in contamination of the Flint River for a prolonged period of time, leading to this current tragedy [Wahowiak,2016]. In 2011 a study found that in order for the Flint River water to be considered potable, it would need to be treated with an anti-corrosion agent which would cost the state about hundred dollars per day and could have prevented ninty percent of Flint’s water problems [Silverman]. However, in 2014, the water source was switched to the Flint River without any pre-water treatment. The switch was meant to be a temporary solution until the state-run supply line to Lake Huron was ready for connection in about two years.

The Flint water crisis is an issue that has been plaguing the state of Michigan for over two years and has no feasible end in sight. The neglect of various government officials and employees has culminated in a public health danger for thousands of Michigan residents, by way of consumption of water with high levels of lead. Though the individuals deemed responsible for this deplorable situation have lost or resigned from their positions, and some criminal charges have been brought about, there is still a lot that has to be done to try and repair the damage that they did.

Clean drinking water is a necessity in everybody’s life. Many cities take for granted their seemingly infinite amount of water available to them but for Flint, Michigan residents, there is no such luxury. Many people in that area have been sickened or even killed with the water that is available to them. Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan should resign due to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan because his negligence may have long and short term effects on the health of the city’s residents. There is no excuse for how he is handling this; slowly, and ineffectively.

The city of Flint is 70 miles away from the costs of the Great Lakes which hold the greatest sources of fresh water, yet there residents still can't get clean tap water. 15% of homes in Flint Michigan are boarded up ,40% of the people are in poverty , high unemployment rate, and consistently on a list for most dangerous places to live in the nation .In an attempt to cut budget cost in 2014 Flint stop getting pre treated water from the city of Detroit . Problems began when the city started using water from the Flint river .Flint River is 19 times more corrosive than Lake Huron (Detroit water source) . City and state officials denied for months that there was a serious problem by that time, supply pipes had sustained major corrosion and lead

An essential necessity for life is slowly killing residents in Michigan. The town of Flint, Michigan is slowly being poisoned by their water supply. Flint is 70 miles north of Detroit with a population of 98,310. According to the U.S. Census Bureau a little under half of residents live below the poverty line. More than fifty-five percent of the city’s population is African-American (CNN Library). The dangerous lead levels in the water went unnoticed for years, despite the residents’ complaints of discolored and foul-smelling water. The question at hand is how could this happen?

Back in April 2014, Flint Michigan, switched its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The government believed that this would be a great idea, because by them making this big switch they begin to start saving a lot of money. The new water that they now use is very polluted. This is the water that each and every person in Flint depends on to drink, cook with and to also bathe in. A lot of people have been affected by this change in water supply. As things begin to worsen the people in Flint, started to hear and become very familiar to lead poisoning. A significant amount of their victims have fallen victim to to being affected by the contaminated water, that everyone has been using. Doctors have noticed that the amount of lead found

Water treatment plants typically add and remove chemicals, and change the composition of a water source in order to supply clean and safe water to its residents. Lead pipes that contain soluble forms of lead can allow lead ions to react with hydrogen ions within water, causing a dissolution reaction with allows for those lead ions to leach into the water and contaminate it as seen here with the dissolution of galena: PbS(solid) + 2H+ Pb2+(aq) + H2S(aq) The first problem that occurred with the Flint Water Supply was the fact that they did not have a plan to maintain the protective layer that builds up along the walls of lead pipes. This layer is made up of lead phosphate and lead carbonate. The previous water treatment facility that the city used added orthophosphate PO43- which is a negative ion that will bond with the positive lead ions (Pb2+) in order to form a solid chemical known as lead(II) phosphate

The Flint water crisis has left no one from the damage, even the pets are getting sick of the poisoned water. That was what residents Lee and Ernie of Flint Michigan saw with their cat. Flint is a city in Michigan with a total population of approximately one hundred thousand residents. The issue with the water for Flints and its residents stated in 2014 when the city decided to switch from their water resource from the city of Detroit to a local river. Immediately after the switch residents filed complaints about the water’s smell and color. In Ryan Felton’s “Flint’s Water Crisis: What went wrong,” it is apparent that the crisis should not have happened, and that flint was neglected just because it was an impoverished city.

Flint Water Crisis, independent professionals reported testing the drinking water and what was found that there is lead and it was leaching into the main water supply. Contaminated water with lead and iron may be the most intense image of environmental and social injustice. Flint, Michigan, is amongst the poorest in the U.S. and majority African American, since 2014(npr.org 2016). The citizens of Flint had been complaining that their tap water was foul and discolored and had an odd taste. Nonetheless city, state, and federal officials ignored the issue. It has been stated that by changing the Flint water pipeline back to Lake Huron will not rectify the damage, investigators and many researchers believe that it may not be possible to ever undo

I read an article published by NPR about the water crisis still currently happening in Flint, Michigan. The article provides a timeline leading up to the crisis and the backlash it has created in the town. It starts off with Flint city officials deciding whether or not the town can save money by getting their water from another source. To do this they would build their own pipeline and it’s said it would save the town up to $200 million is 25 years. Despite saying the water was safe and clean to use, it still caused a lot of problems. Residents complained about how the water tasted and smelt bad, and General Motors refused to continue using the water because they feared it would cause corrosion and damage to their machines. And instead of testing

The problem in Flint, Michigan was the residents came to the conclusion that iron found its way into their water supply and people began to panic at the sight of brownish water. In fear they went to city officials and to city police to figure out the problem. They receive all their tap water from the Flint River which is highly corrosive and the Department of Environmental quality was not treating the water with an anti-corrosion agent.