The Importance Of Drinking Water In Flint

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 problem of water in flint arose when the city changed the source of the water from Detroit to the Flint River in order to save money. This issue had several negative consequences on Flint citizens. The majority of these consequences is serious health problems especially for the infants and old people. In order to figure out the causes of this water issue and who made the decisions that lead eventually to those dreadful unpleasant outcomes.

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

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.

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.

The problem has become too big to ignore, and it is only going to get worse. This is evident with the recent events encompassed in the Flint Michigan water crisis. Flint’s water infrastructure has reached a crisis point, as residents cope with high levels of lead pollution and questions mount over contamination and negligent oversight. Aiming to cut costs in a state of financial emergency almost two years ago, the city began drawing water from the local Flint River rather than continuing to depend on traditional sources linked to Detroit, almost immediately leading to a variety of health and environmental concerns (Brookings). A combination of factors, of course, have contributed to Flint’s crisis—including lapses in state monitoring—but the aging and deteriorating condition of the city’s water infrastructure plays an enormous role. As Flint emerges from its current water crisis, it offers a cautionary tale to several other aging cities nationally. While extreme and unique in some ways, Flint reveals broader infrastructure concerns that demand

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

Furthermore, most of the service lines to homes in Flint are made of lead and since the water wasn't properly treated, lead began leaching into the water supply, in addition to the iron. Generally, more than a dozen lawsuits, including several additional class-action suits, were filed against Michigan and the city of Flint, as well as various state and city officials and employees involved in the decision to switch the source of the drinking water and those responsible for monitoring water quality. The range of remedies sought included financial compensation for lead poisoning and refunds for water bills. The state environmental authority in Michigan kept assuring that most of the water samples in Flint were below concerning lead levels which means that it’s safe to drink despite the foul odor and appearance and the way it seemed to be making people very sick. Most of the people that live there are convinced that whatever the government tries to do to make water upgrades, the water will never be acceptable

Recently, the residents of Flint, Michigan experienced a water crisis that caused lead to contaminate the water supply of thousands of people in the city. Although, Flint is a developed city within one of the worlds most successful countries, the water crisis of 2014 rocked the nation to its core, causing us to investigate how safe our drinking water really is and how social inequality continues to plague the country. The old pipes that channeled the water from the Flint River is lined with lead that has gone untreated with anticorrosive for many years. The Flint River is filled with iron which in itself is highly corrosive, but when mixed with lead is doubly hazardous to those who consume the water (CNN). As contaminated water flowed to the

In Flint, Michigan around a couple years ago decided on the worst decision to save money for the state. The state decided to earn money by switching from Detroit's Lake Huron to one of the Rivers most known for its filth, the Flint River. Residents were shocked at the sudden change and started getting worried, this, being long-term residents there it was a fear amoung them . Most were concerned whether it would be safe for the health of everyone due to the fact the the water looked brown until Former Flint Mayor Dayne Walling drank the brown water in front of everyone to prove a point in front local TV. One of them said, “‘You’re paying for poison. I’m paying for water that’s a toxic waste,’ Kelso said” (Ganim, Tran 1) after realizing that

In April of 2014 Flint Michigan endured one of the deadliest crisis that hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina. It was later called “The Flint Water Crisis”, it made headlines everywhere including hashtags on social media and it also got the the attention of celebrities which spread the news all over. It also became one of the

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 approximately 70 miles away from the largest body of fresh water in the world, the Great Lakes. Ironically, its residents cannot access clean water from their taps. The Flint water crisis began in April 2014, when the state chose to save money by switching Flint’s water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River, a source of water that is apparently filthy. Now, the city is in a state of emergency as they struggle to access clean and consumable water, while there are reports of lead contamination creating a huge epidemic health problem. Since the crisis, children are the primary demographic with high lead counts in their blood. Detrimental health effects include, skin lesions, hair loss, high levels of lead in the blood, depression and anxiety.

Flint, Michigan has made headlines in the news over the past few years for their water crisis. The city thought that they would be able to save money by switching from Detroit City water to water from the Flint River. Unfortunately, they didn’t treat the water in an effort to prevent the pipes from corroding. This allowed lead and bacteria to flow through the pipes and into the homes of Flint residents. Many citizens have been sick and have gotten lead poisoning since then (Kennedy).

Let’s begin with a brief summary of the events that lead to the crisis in Michigan. On April 25, 2016 city administrators decided to switch Flint’s water supply Detroit’s system to the Flint river (Lurie, 2016). After only a few months, residents began complaining about foul smells and serious health concerns, such as hair loss and severe rashes. On October 2014, general motors, the city’s largest source of revenue for decades, stops using municipal water due to its corrosive effects on auto parts (Lin, Rutter, & Park, 2016). Despite multiple complaints and health concern reports, in March 2014, the Veolia consultant group did not report any significant finding of lead or toxic chemicals. (need info on child lead levels)