Tap Water Problem

Who knew that Flints water could be deadly? Everyone should be allowed to have the same clean water to bathe in, drink, cook with, and to have fun in. Unfortunately, residents in Flint could not do this for quite some time. These residents were bathing and drinking from this water before the founding of high lead levels in it. Not only was it because of the high lead levels, but the pipes were very old as well. Due to actions made by the city council this caused a lot of problems for the residents in the city of Flint. This effected children, pregnant women, and the elderly the most. Many lawsuits were filed against the city of Flint. It was so serious to the point that Governor Snyder had to declare a state of emergency. This took place January 5th of 2016. High levels of lead in the water and old pipes lead to lawsuits, the sickness of Flint residents, and the city of Flint not doing their job.

“The more we complained about it to those in charge, the more we were told it was fine” is what Bishop Jefferson (2016), along with numerous other Flint residents, is saying about the on going situation with the Flint drinking water. Since April of 2014, many residents living in Flint, Michigan, have been cursed with a number of health effects that were caused by the change of the drinking water source from Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River which has been contaminated with lead. “Lead is a naturally occurring element found in small amounts in the earth’s crust”(2015). Although it is beneficial in some ways, it can be toxic to humans and animals and cause many health problems. So, when lead leached its way into the water

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

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

For the past three years Flint, Michigan has been making headlines due to what seems like a never-ending water crisis. One day their water seems to be just fine, but then all of a sudden it’s contaminated and dirty; full of lead and fecal particles which will slowly begin to harm more people than imaginable. Hospital admissions skyrocket, school attendance numbers began to drop, and more and more adults are calling off of work because they’ve fallen ill. People begin to go without showers to help keep them “safe” from contamination, bottled water is now being used for not only drinking but also showering, mixing baby formulas, watering plants, etc. Major cost-cutting measures led to contaminated drinking water, lifelong health effects, and

The Flint, Michigan water crisis has caused the nation to rethink if the water they drink is safe or not due to toxic substances such as lead posing a threat to drinking water. It leads to a nationwide investigation on the water system and most of them have failed to meet federal safety standards for lead and other harmful substances. Such crisis puts spotlights on government agencies responsible for tracking the water system and why they fail to protect the public from this crisis. The water infrastructure of the nation is old and worn out and fixing it would cost 30 billion to replace lead pipes and one trillion to upgrade the water mains.

The residents of Flint, Michigan were continuously looking to the government for a solution to this crisis. However, another issue involved in the crisis is that the government was treating the wrong problem.However, many are puzzled as to why numerous residents are ill because the MEDQ rebutted that it would be multiple years before the chlorine would cause dramatic effects. The Detroit Free Press states “children were developing rashes and suffering from mysterious illnesses” (“Flint Water”). Until early 2015, the government believed that the cause to the Flint Water Crisis was due to an excess of antibacterial substances. One particular household observed changes in the smell and taste of their water. This motivated LeeAnne Walters, Flint resident, to have her water tested. The American Chemical Society (ACS) states the results “All 32 samples from the Walters ' home contained lead concentrations above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency action level of 15 micrograms per liter. Four samples were above 5,000 micrograms per liter, the threshold for hazardous waste. And one sample contained 13,200 micrograms per liter.” Due to this analysis, the EPA believes that the extremely high levels of lead can be the cause of the mysterious illnesses. In the end, the profound cause of the Flint Water Crisis appears to be increased exposure to lead.

Flint, Michigan is in a state of emergency, but help isn’t coming fast enough. The seepage of lead into drinking water pipes has created a widespread public health crisis, prompting President Obama to declare a federal state of emergency. The problem can be traced back to 2014 when the city started to use the Flint River as its water source. Flint needed an alternative water source until its connecting pipe to KWA was complete, so the city switched to the Flint River. In a summary of the Flint crisis, the New York Times stated, “the switch was made as a cost-saving measure for the struggling, majority-black city. Soon after, residents [began] to complain about the water’s color, taste and odor, and to report rashes and

Imagine living in an area where tap water looked darker than a glass of cola. Imagine living in an area where water that looked and smelled like sewage earned the name of “the most expensive water in the nation.” Imagine living in an area where poisoned and carcinogenic water was unwittingly being sold to residents. This is what the residents of Flint, Michigan have, and are still, facing since 2014. Flint, Michigan, a city earning fourth place on “America’s Most Dangerous Cities” by Forbes.com, is facing trouble distributing clean water to residents, something many Americans take for granted. After a cost-cutting switch from water sources, residents have been bombarded with various health and financial damages.

Flint River water is 19 times more corrosive than Lake Huron’s water. DWSD treats their water so that it is safe to drink. Flint did not treat their water with an anti-corrosive agent. MDEQ (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality) told Flint officials the anti-corrosive additive was not necessary. GM stopped using the Flint River water because it was corroding the car parts. The Flint River water was so corrosive that lead leached into people’s water (lead is a toxin that can cause brain damage to children and kidney failure in adults). Flint officials said that homes that have lead pipes were the only homes possible to have lead leached into them. Residents were told that the water was safe to drink and that it would be a waste of money to buy bottled water. Flint had been issued an emergency manager who had researchers test Flint’s water. The test’s showed positive for lead. With some home’s reporting up to 1,000-4,000 parts per billion. The state mandate for lead is 15 parts per billion. The state then issued that citizens water testing kits and water filters that had no effect at

The Flint, Michigan water crisis is a very important issue in the United States. On April 25, 2014, government decided that they could save money by switching their water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. However, the pipes they used were pumping water with lead in it. This crisis has a simple solution by doing what the government should have done a long time ago. It is imperative for the Michigan Government to fix the water crisis by replacing the lead pipes in Flint, Michigan, do to time and their public image.

Flint is a recovering city. Arches that line “the bricks,” or the main street that runs through the downtown section, proudly proclaim it to be “Vehicle City,” but the Vehicle City took some of its hardest punches as GM shuttered their factories in the area. It is finding its footing though, redeveloping and rebuilding. Now however, Flint is going through another crisis. This is the Flint water crisis, where lead has leached out of the pipes and into the water supply. The water is considered unsafe to drink, with the worst of it being so contaminated that it is considered hazardous waste (Lurie). The governor and the emergency managers that he appointed to the city have taken most of the blame for the elevated lead levels. They have taken this blame because the laws designed to ensure the public’s health were undermined by a lack

As an American citizen, I never question the water my state government provided me with. Also, I took for granted that I was receiving purified water, and believe that I did not have to inquire about the water safety level. However, after reading the Kristen Silven article, “Flint Water Crisis”, I felt infuriated learning that an American community had been poisoned, because of their government inadequacy to provide them with proper water. Also, I believe it was inhuman that the government neglected citizens and their duties for nearly 18 months. Furthermore, I felt empathic for the 666 homes that have shown high levels of lead poison in their drinking water. I could not imagine being a mother watching my child be poisoned and not have the

Because of this switch in water supply, water consumption had a huge impact on the citizens’ lives. In September 2015, a citizen asked the state to test the water, which led to other inquiries from other scientists. Virginia Tech University analyzed the water and found out that the lead quantity was higher than the amount of water in proportion. The water could not even be called water anymore; they named it as “toxic water.”

What I just described is exactly what the residents in Flint, Michigan have been dealing with since 2014. Lead has contaminated water throughout the city and put