The Current Crisis Of Flint

The current crisis in Flint, Michigan began in April of 2013 when, as mLive, reported, officials signed an agreement to get 16 million gallons of water per day from the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) instead of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). Both of these water authorities source their water from Lake Huron, but the KWA deal was going to save Flint millions of dollars. However, this new water authority was not expected to be ready for another three years. Once they signed the agreement, the DWSD told Flint that they will stop selling water to Flint in twelve months, thus Flint had to find a new source of water for the interim time until the KWA system was finished (Rappleye, NBC News).
On March 12, 2014, “Flint city leaders and Flint Water Treatment Plant officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking… to mark the start of the process of drawing water from the Flint River” (Schuch, mLive). In the month leading up to the expiration of the DWSD deal, renovations and updates had been done to the Flint Water Treatment Plant so it could treat and distribute water from the Flint River, the city’s backup source. On April 25, 2014 the DWSD pipeline was shut off, and water is sourced from the Flint River. The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said residents shouldn 't notice any difference. Following the switch, there were immediate complaints about the smell, color and taste of the water (Durando, USA Today) as well as reports of rashes and concerns about bacteria (Lin, New York Times). Residents begin to purchase bottled water to use rather than the “murky, foamy [water]” coming from taps. Amongst this concern, the state DEQ says that the water meets state standards. On June 12, City officials reveal that ...

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...tive fountains. When… exposed to the bacteria, it can cause Legionellosis, a respiratory disease that can infect the lungs and cause pneumonia.” In Genesee County, eighty-seven cases of Legionnaire’s disease were reported between June 2014 and November 2015 resulting in ten deaths (AlHajal, mLive).
Because Flint’s river water had high levels of bacteria, it was treated with additional chlorine that reacted with the organic material in the water, producing carcinogenic byproducts, the trihalomethanes, and also making water more acidic which corroded the pipes (Carmody). The corrosive water ate through the protective film inside the city’s old pipes, allowing odorless, tasteless lead to leach into the water. The effects of low exposure lead poisoning in adults include an increased risk of hypertension and decrease in cognitive function (Barry-Jester, FiveThirtyEight).