But as I continued to film with local residents, I was struck by how little the state seemed to be doing in response. For a new report, published yesterday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, Edwards' team returned to “ground zero” and used chemical analysis of water samples to see just how deep the contamination in Walters’ home ran. When the city switched water supplies, this rust began to be stripped away, strongly discoloring the water and leaching the large amounts of lead from that rust into the water. Concern among Muslims over halal status of COVID-19 vaccine, Watch "[That's] not true." Vic Mensa is a rapper from Chicago who commonly addresses social issues in his creative work. As Flint River water contacts lead, particularly in areas where water is stagnant, it leaches into the water supply inside homes and businesses. There are so many lies being told about the Flint water story. • Hanna-Attisha mentions the government did not include anti-corrosion treatment to the water from the Flint River. In Flint, Michigan, a scandal over lead-tainted water keeps getting darker. Olson’s team found enrichment of these two metals on Flint’s pipes relative to other cities. The water crisis started in 2014 when, as a cost-cutting measure, officials switched the city's water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Dec 18 Dec 18 After Flint River water began flowing, corrosive water caused lead to leach from joints, pipes and fixtures, causing a spike in toxic lead levels in the blood of Flint children and other residents. Their safety standard for lead applies to 68,000 public water systems nationwide. I don’t expect anything I say will be taken seriously as I am no authority but I have followed the story from the beginning as I live in Saginaw, about 30 mi. Suddenly, Walters found that the water spewing out of her faucets was discolored and foul-tasting; her son would come out of the bath with alarming rashes. Get the best of Smithsonian magazine by email. Without getting into the details of this rule, Flint had failures of the LCR that they did not report initially. Previously it got its water from Detroit, which cost the city millions of dollars. This lead was the source of the initial contamination, Edwards says. Omitting orthophosphate, which controls metal corrosion, caused lead embedded in the pipes to leach into the water. Accumulated lead on the pipes can fall off into the water over time even without changes to the water supply, such as the interruption of corrosion control in Flint. This suspicion isn’t limited to Flint. The pipes are a reservoir of lead that can readily detach and pose a hazard to people, Edwards said. Flint water crisis, public health crisis (April 2014–June 2016) involving the municipal water supply system of Flint, Michigan, which resulted in residents being exposed to dangerous levels of lead. Dec 08 Although it was once a thriving industrial centre, the city of Flint in souteastern Michigan Why? The Black Lives Matter group said African-Americans, especially those in rural and poor areas, have long been denied equal access to clean drinking water. Overall, Olson’s team suspects that lead accounted for 30.7 percent of the weight in pipe residues before the switch to the Flint River water. The Flint River water turned out to be more corrosive than the water Flint received from Detroit -- so corrosive, in fact, that in October 2014, General Motors opted to quit using it to avoid corroding parts in its engine plant. “There have been others who sort of disputed that, [but] I think that can be put to rest.”. The absence of a water treatment — called orthophosphate — was a major contributor to lead contamination of Flint, Michigan’s water supply, scientists confirmed recently in Environmental Science and Technology Letters. Give a Gift. All Rights Reserved. Using samples taken by Walters in January 2015 and sections of the iron pipe that connected Walters' house to the lead service pipe, Edwards was able to pinpoint the contamination patterns. Flint switched back to using water from Detroit in October 2015, and is now adding extra phosphates to that water to help reduce lead levels. Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. Shields and Brooks celebrate a lifetime in American politics, Watch Racism in the Flint Water Crisis is up close, and it goes way back. While Walters had plastic pipes inside of her house, many older homes have galvanized iron pipes in their walls, meaning that removing any chance of lead contamination would take costly renovations. Yet, more than 150,000 public water systems exist in the country. Hanna-Attisha became involved thanks partly to an August barbecue with two lifelong friends, one of whom happened to have worked for the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington when the city's taps spewed lead from 2001 through 2004. "Some people think, 'If I get rid of the lead pipes, there's no lead in my water,'" Edwards says. The people of Flint, Michigan have been drinking lead-tainted water for more than a year since the city switched its water source from Detroit's Lake Huron to the Flint River. Yet, more than 150,000 public water systems exist in the country. And the ridiculously corrosive water running from the Flint River turned out to be eroding both the iron and the lead in the water mains and service lines to Flint homes. FLINT, MI -- Tests show water leaving Flint's treatment plant is lead free, but by the time it reaches the tap, it sometimes has elevated levels of lead, and here's why. Roni Dengler Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha testifies about lead contamination of the Flint, Mich., water supply during a U.S. House hearing in 2016. Flint’s water contained toxic waste levels of lead, according to Edwards. • What caused lead to get into the water? She recently earned a doctorate in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from the University of Colorado Boulder. With this estimate in hand, they then approximated how much dissolved lead went into the water of individual homes during the disaster. First, they examined the chemical deposits that normally collect on the lead service lines — water pipes made of pure lead that connect individual homes to the city water system. An unknown number of children in Flint, Michigan, were exposed to dangerous amounts of lead in their drinking water because of a cheapskate decision to switch the city's water source in 2014. Roni Dengler. That’s because Olson’s figure is likely an underestimation. “There’s no law that mandates maximum levels of lead in any tap in the United States,” Edwards said. When Michigan officials switched water sources for Flint, it introduced iron and lead into the water supply .