Lead Levels Of Water Pipes

All the inhabitants of Flint communities regardless of their location had irreversible, permanent brain damage due to lead-contaminated water. It started when traces of E. coli and total coliform were found in the Flint River. The city addressed this problem by increasing chlorine levels in the water, causing the pipes to corrode, releasing lead into the waters. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) were also formed in the water (they are carcinogenic to humans).TTHM is a disinfection byproduct that occur when chlorine interacts with organic matter in the water. At this stage, The lead levels in the water was 13,200 ppb. Water is considered hazardous waste at 5,000ppb (NPR 2016). This tragedy goes to show that this toxic runoff, or even the miss-handling of the water resources in a watershed can affect everyone as the downstream water was piped up into the upstream communities.

The lead effects in the drinking water have caused a massive public health crisis (“Scientific Opinion on the risks”, 2015). The whole crisis was as a result of poor management practices employed in the Flint water plant. The city decided to switch the

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

Many service lines leading into homes are leaching lead into the water. This problem happened because the city of Flint decided to not treat the water properly with corrosion control (Ganrin, 2016). This proves that officials did not care about those living in Flint. They chose to save money but instead they destroyed many lives. So this proves that our government is not there to help the people out, but instead to cut money wherever they feel necessary to not have to take it from other places. Lead poisoning can affect IQ and behavior. This can cause some people to become score low on standardized test and to become violent and to sometimes harm others. No level of lead is ever safe in any person or animal (Ganrin, 2016). The water source in Flint is currently undrinkable and very unsafe and will continue to be for months ahead ("Researcher: Flint water 'like Russian roulette'," 2016). Flint water is not a safe water source and has not been for many months. According to federal regulations Flint's water supply still does not meet standards. Since August 2015 the water supply has improved, but it still is not safe ("Researcher: Flint water 'like Russian roulette'," 2016). The people of Flint have been poisoned under their noses without even knowing it, secretly being sickened by their own government. Flint’s water is not safe it's an unreliable water

In Flint Michigan, nearly 100,000 residents are drinking lead contaminated water. (QuickFacts). We are not discussing a third world country on the other side of the globe, but rather a city in the United States. It would seem as though the land of opportunity, and the land many flee too should be able to provide clean drinking water. However, in the United States 310,000 children aged 1-5 are found with an unsafe level of lead running through their blood stream. (Lead 8). In Flint alone, 8,000 children under the age of six have been exposed to harmful levels of lead. The agencies and government that was put into place to protect the public from these issues is often turning a blind eye, and often allowing the public to continue to drink this contaminated water. A major part of the problem is that lead water pipes run throughout cities across the United States. Although it would very expensive to replace all the water pipes running through Flint, not replacing the pipes could potentially continue to do more harm to the ecosystems, and to the communities they are in. (rst2)

Potential lead contamination from drinking water presents a significant health risk. Recent examples of this lead contamination include Flint, Michigan, a city that experienced a large increase in the number of people, especially children, who exhibited symptoms of lead poisoning. A March 9, 2016 article in the Washington Post reported data from the Environmental Protection Agency that indicated approximately 350 schools and day-care centers across the US failed lead tests approximately 470 times between 2012 and 2015. Seven years ago, according to the Post, a study concluded that hundreds of young children in Washington, DC, had potentially damaging amounts of lead in their blood due to contamination in the city’s tap water. The toxin can cause permanent developmental and behavioral issues.

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

Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote an article about Flint, Michigan’s lead water out break. Complaining about hair loss (even in pets), nausea, and rashes. This happened in April and now in January it is becoming a big deal stated in the article. Flint switched their water supply to Flint River because it was cheaper. The river is filled with bacteria and chemicals. Leonard talks about doctors that are finding lead in little kids blood and that can lead to a lot of damages including brain damage, anti social behavior, and more. The city is very poor and this problem could have been taken care of if they just paid an extra 100$

In the article “It’s All Just Poison Now”, Oliver Laughland and Ryan Felton discuss how the lives of the residents of Flint, Michigan have been negatively affected by the city’s tainted water supply. Flint’s aging lead pipes, coupled with its corrosive water sources, have cause a number of contaminants to seep into the water supply. On top of this, the city’s water supply is inadequately purified, which caused many residents to be exposed to these toxins. The main concern to residents is the presence of poisonous lead in the water, which can be deadly even in low amounts. The community of Flint has been unknowingly drinking and bathing in these chemicals, despite being told by city officials that the water was safe. As a result, many residents

All the controversy about the lead problems in Flint, Michigan has stirred up questions across the country. Every day there are several news stories about cities across the country discussing the lead issue and how they meet the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. While the average person may feel comforted by these news stories, it doesn’t mean that every home served by the water supply has lead below the EPA’s recommended action level. It’s the job of water treatment professionals to educate those served by municipal water about the regulations surrounding lead and copper and what those consumers can do to protect themselves further.

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

Imagine being informed that the water with which you bathe, brush your teeth, and cook is the root of many serious and sometimes fatal health problems. Sadly, this is the case for a majority of the citizens in Flint, Michigan. According to an online article titled “This is how toxic Flint’s water really is,” by reporter Christopher Ingraham, the culprit is high concentrations of lead that have leached into tap water from lead-containing pipe systems and fixtures as they slowly corrode. The article also informs that although nearly all citizens were exposed to the hazardous water, some exposures were found to be worse than others (Ingraham). Additionally Ingraham states “A group of Virginia Tech researchers who sampled the water in 271 Flint homes last summer found some contained lead levels high enough to meet the EPA 's definition of ‘toxic waste." With lead being the culprit, and nearly all citizens being exposed to the contaminated water, Flint has found itself in a near epidemic.

When the contamination in Flint’s water system was noticed, it was because of the “smell, taste, and color.” (The Humanist 23) The water pipes were deteriorating because of the polluted water, which was causing lead to flow into the water. People immediately started complaining to their city’s mayor about the changes in the water. Soon after that, scientists from Virginia Tech discovered it was severe lead in the water. Lead poison is known to destroy or affect almost every organ or system in someone’s body. (The Humanist 23)

Some solutions to the crisis are to coat the lead pipes with graphene to get rid of the lead particles in the water and on the pipes, build a water intake filter that takes the water from the Flint River, filters it, and then sends it to the public, or, switch the water source from the Flint River back to the Great Lakes. Since Lake Huron is being blocked in the legislature, get water from one of the other Great Lakes. Other possible solutions include mapping out the entire system of pipes in Flint, Michigan and replace the lead pipes with pipes that are made out of materials that do not cause diseases and harm people, installing a Culligan filtering system in every person's house in Flint, Michigan so that they have pure, filtered water, or having other states in the U.S. donate money towards fixing the pipes in

The more polluted a water source is, the more processing required to make the water safe to drink. Most of the contaminants now in Flint’s drinking water were introduced during or after processing. For all drinking water, the first concern is bacteria, which can cause diseases like hepatitis, Legionnaire’s disease, and other illnesses. Because Flint’s river water had high levels of bacteria, it was treated with additional chlorine. Chlorine reacts with organic material in the water to produce carcinogenic byproducts such as trihalomethanes; it also makes water more acidic, which corrodes pipes. Federal law mandates adding anti-corrosive agents to drinking water in large cities; this standard water treatment practice was not followed (Carmody, 2016). The water created issues with lead due to its high acidity. Water service connections have been made for years using lead piping primarily in the 1920s and 1930s. The acidic water corroded the old lead pipes and lead seeped into the water. Lead poisoning is the most widespread and serious health problem associated with Flint’s drinking water; children with prolonged exposure to lead experience a range of developmental problems that are incurable. Flint’s water-treatment staff were not able to successfully make Flint River water safe to drink. Whether this is because they were undertrained, understaffed, or simply made a decision not to invest scarce