Flint Water Crisis

The Flint Water Crisis: What went wrong, article was written by Ryan Felton in January 16, 2016. The story of the article takes place in Flint, Michigan. The city of Flint experienced a crisis that has not been experienced in any other city across the nation. The article states that what happen in flint should not have happened, a city with 100,000 residents should not have to worry about poisoned water running into their homes. The water issue started when Flint appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley, decided to switch Flint’s water source form the city of Detroit to a local Flint River. This switched was aim to find a cheap alternative water source for the residents. However, what the officials failed to do was to test the water and see

As Doidge et al. illustrate, the historical background of Flint City’s drinking water supply emanated from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. This was through a contractual basis for over three decades, and its main source of water was Lake Huron. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is an extensive system encompassing almost 1,080 square-miles, and provides to more than two fifths of the Michigan State population. In the year 2000 alone, the system covered 11,000 miles of water channels with a storage volume of about 360 million gallons. It supplied water to nearly four million people in Detroit and its metropolitan locale.

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

In Flint Michigan studies show there was a large amount of lead in the water , because of this high turbidity in the water witch means this water is dangerous.

The residents of Flint, Michigan had clear, drinkable water that anyone could use and drink, but the water started to become less and less consumable. Melisa Mays, a resident of Flint, claims that she broke out in rashes and developed a respiratory infection, which makes her cough up phlegm that taste like cleaning products. The Flint, Michigan Water Crisis began in April 2014, when the city of Flint changed their water source. Flint used to buy their water from Detroit, but due to the rising rates that were being charged for the water, Flint decided to switch its source to Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA), which created problems with Detroit (The Toxic Tap). Though Flint was changing its water source they had to wait due to pipeline construction, so Flint started using the Flint River as the primary source for municipal water until the pipeline construction was compete. The Flint River was not safe to use, which resulted in health problems in many of the residents of Flint, Michigan (The Water Quality). Though residents were being impacted, children were the ones who were exposed to greater dangers (Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Children Associated with the Flint Drinking Water Crisis).

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.

“Water is a human right”-  Michigan Nurses. Due to a lack of financial resources and government funding, the city of  Flint, Michigan began to make budget cuts. One major budget cut was the waterway from Lake Huron to Flint. Government officials decided on connecting Flint to the Flint river, which has previously raised infestation problems. After the major switch city occupants commenced to complain about the smell and taste of at home tap water.

How would you feel if you’ve been poisoned and no one told you? Well that's what happened in Flint, Michigan during a change of water source it was discovered the water in the town has been contaminated for months with high amount of lead.

According to City Council meetings the switch would end up saving the region $200 million over a course of twenty-five years. While they were waiting on the Karegnondi Water Authority to hook up a pipeline they used the Flint River as a source of water. They had previously used the Flint River as its main water source until the 1960’s (Kennedy). Residents were concerned about the use of the Flint River, because of its unsafe history. Flint signed onto the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which uses Lake Huron, in 1967. The Flint Rivers water quality deteriorated the 1970’s because of the fecal coliform bacteria, low dissolved oxygen, plant nutrients, oils, and toxic substances found. In 2001, the state organized a cleanup of 134 polluted spots near the Flint River area. Industrial complexes, landfills and farms laden with pesticides and fertilizer were among the sites ordered to be cleaned up (CNN Library). By May people begin to notice the awful smell and color of the water. The complaints were ignored. Three months later E. coli and total coliform bacteria are found in the River. A boil order is put in place to help prevent the residents from being exposed to the bacteria. (Kennedy). The

It all started when Flint officials turned off the flow of already-treated Lake Huron water from the city of Detroit and started treating their own raw water from the Flint River instead. However, changing the source of the water was supposed to be a temporary solution, because the Genesee country, where

In April of 2014 Flint, Michigan started to get their water from the Flint River rather than the Detroit river that was formerly used as the main water source in hopes of saving money. The water being provided has been classified by Flint residents as smelly and murky and is avoided at all costs. It has also been discovered to cause damage to the lead pipes that transported it throughout the city. Children have been found to have high levels of lead in their blood and this may be the cause of an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease which has killed 10 people in the Flint area. People have also reported rashes from the dirty water. Video news interviews show residents holding water that is

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 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.

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.

Before the water crisis, Flint was receiving water from Detroit’s water pipes which gave out very healthy water. Detroit had enough water to share with other cities. Doing this was not free though and it was not very cheap. Flint had to pay Detroit in order to use the water. After so long, Detroit’s water system had begun to cost too much for Flint. Flint then switched to another water system. The Flint city council voted to switch their supply of water from Detroit to the Karegnondi Water