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The Flint Water Crisis in 2014 was a national headline tragedy that had all of the citizens from Flint, Michigan worried about their health. The water was completely contaminated in the town of Flint , some would have water the color brown. It would be a concerning and prominent issue for everyone in that town as shown that kids would have “higher blood-lead levels” ( Detroit Free Press). Even President Obama declared the water in Flint Michigan a “national emergency”. Water originally was filtered by Lake Huron water, but water companies switched their supply to Flint River. “ The switch caused water distribution pipes to corrode and leach lead and other contaminants into municipal drinking water.” ( cdc.gov). This sudden change caused pipes to rot and started the well known problem we know today. The negative repercussions of this change had caused an abundance of families many health issues even to this day. A researcher from Virginia Tech had done some testing on the water from Lake Michigan and had seen the alarming amounts of lead intake in peoples homes and in the lake itself. “ So the corrosions eating up the pipes, it's eating up the iron pipes. It's causing main breaks, it's causing discolored water. And in about 20 percent of homes, there's just too much lead” ( vox.com) Another prominent and unfortunate side effect from this lead contamination is behavioral issues in children and adults. “66% of households reported one or more adult members reported experiencing at least

Flint Michigan Water Pipes- 2016

one behavioral health issue “more than usual”’ (cdc.gov). Mental health problems had increased ever since the

contaminated water entered Flint Michigan. Probably because of the stress of relying on water bottles or by the lead ingesting into their body, peoples health had significantly decreased. People in households would start to have to buy water bottles in order to receive clean water. People would bathe, drink, and wash their hands with water bottles in order to avoid lead poisoning. Lead poisoning is highly concerning and even a little amount can affect someone negatively. “At high levels of exposure lead attacks the brain and central nervous system, causing coma, convulsions and even death. “ (who.int). Engineers everywhere took this as a precaution not to change different locations so suddenly, or they would encounter the same problem as Michigan

McGee 2 did. They would have to slowly and steadily change such an important issue in order to not cause disruption to pipes, households,etc.

The start of the change was caused by a money issue that Flint had had years prior. In 2011, car companies had started to close causing a massive decrease in population. With this alarming decrease, the town of Flint had to cut back on some major costs. Their grand idea to change Flint's main water source to a closer and cheaper location has had such negative repercussions that even lasts to this day. Flint residents had become so infuriated from this abrupt change that they started to file lawsuits and protest in order for them to receive a basic necessity. But the governor attested that the water was “safe” and claimed that many federal tests had approved it. Leaked files from that so-called tests had shown the high levels of lead and the governor straight up lied to his residents to cover the lies he had created. Even many politicians mentioned this case and stated how irresponsible the government of Flint was and how the governor handled it was atrocious. The governor made many claims publicly showing how little he cared about the then current water crisis. This became an unethical problem dealing with the citizens of Flint and the governor refusing to make any critical modifications. The financial situation was more important than the health risks in the governor's eyes. The high levels of lead had not been recognized until the year 2015 because a researcher from Virginia Tech had proved that it was abnormally high. In order to combat the water crisis, the government had bought water filters for its citizens and switched back to their original water intake. Even during this crisis , citizens would still have

Contaminated Water-2016

to pay for water that wasn’t even clean. To this day, water is still a little contaminated from the years prior and all the buildup damage the pipes have been through.

In totality, the water crisis could’ve been avoided if the governor cared more and decided to not change the water intake so suddenly. The health of Flints citizens is the most important thing and should have never been less prioritized than money. Understandably, this had become

McGee 3 an issue for everyone, but this crisis should have never become this drastic and could have been completely avoided. Many people have to live their lives with such high lead intake because of a little mistake that became a huge problem. From my perspective, the most rational solution should have been slowly transferring the water and not forcing a new location. They also should have done more research on the water in Lake Michigan first and tested if it can supply clean water to all of its citizens. I also believe if the government had been more focused on its residents it would’ve been solved sooner and wouldn’t have such negative effects that last to this day. If they saw the problems for two months, they should’ve cut down on and worried if they can provide clean water. This lasted almost 5 years before they decided to switch back to their original water source. All in all, this has become a learning lesson for all engineers to not suddenly change a small thing because it can become a bigger thing in the future.

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Resources:

Flint Water Crisis | Casper | NCEH | CDC. (2020, May 28). Www.cdc.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/casper/pdf-html/flint_water_crisis_pdf.html

Flint water crisis. (n.d.). Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from https://www.freep.com/news/flint-water-crisis/

Flint’s water crisis, explained in 3 minutes. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUSiLOwkrIw&t=114s

The legacy of the Flint water crisis. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYiVHh4U4pE

WHO. (2019, August 23). Lead poisoning and health. Who.int; World Health Organization: WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-andhealth...