dagblog - Comments for "Flint Water: Too Little, Too Late "

It's true that naturally hard

Peter — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 02:33:02 +0000

In reply to I do not have any citation

It's true that naturally hard water will deposit minerals that help in the sealing of the lead pipes but the water authorities also add, i think it's phosphates, minerals to more quickly coat the pipes and that is what is happening now.

The corroded pipes CVD is referring to, i think, are the majority of the pipe in the system which are made of iron/steel and were degraded by the corrosive water which produced the iron rust visible to consumers soon after the switch to Flint River water. That problem seems to be decreasing while the lead leaching is decreasing at a much slower pace.

I do not have any citation

A Guy Called LULU — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 00:20:47 +0000

In reply to Re-coat already corroded

I do not have any citation but in a local news segment on my Public Radio station they said old houses in this area [mine is well over a hundred years old] the notoriously hard water leaves a buildup which becomes a protective coating on the pipes which prevents lead leaching into the tap water.

Re-coat already corroded

CVille Dem — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 23:48:10 +0000

In reply to I should have written 'treat'

Re-coat already corroded pipes? Can you give a citation for that?

I should have written 'treat'

Peter — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 23:33:57 +0000

In reply to Please provide a link that

I should have written 'treat' by filtering at the tap for individual residences and the water is being doubly treated, once by DWSD and again by the Flint water works for corrosion and to re-coat the lead pipes.

Please provide a link that

rmrd0000 — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 18:18:11 +0000

In reply to I never downplayed the crisis

Please provide a link that says corrosion prevention systems are not being used in Flint.

I never downplayed the crisis

Peter — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 16:41:46 +0000

In reply to An actual says that the water

I never downplayed the crisis in Flint just attacked the ignorance, hysteria and hype about what actually happened and is continuing to plague the people there. I think that anyone who trusts that the water is safe to drink, without further treatment, in any major US city is foolish.

You link to another report and again you don';t seem to understand why these restrictions continue for the whole Flint water system. The reason the whole system is quarantined is that the experts don't know which residences still have lead feeder pipes and it could be more or less than the 25% i saw reported earlier. They just don't have that data and as long as the small sampling they are doing shows a high percentage of elevated lead levels they are required to warn everyone to treat or avoid the water even though many if not most of the residences in Flint have no lead in their water.

The extra treatment that is being used on the Detroit water now used in Flint is aimed at re-coating these lead pipes to reduce the lead levels in these residences' water and a flushing regime is planned for the whole system to speed this process so the system can be certified by the EPA as 'safe' according to national standards.

The program to identify and replace these lead pipes is a long term project, ten to fifteen years, but in the mean time the system must be brought back into compliance, by using a treatment regime, so the water system can be certified.

An actual says that the water

rmrd0000 — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 01:50:27 +0000

In reply to Flint Water: Too Little, Too Late

An actual expect says that the water in the entire city of Flint is unsafe. Filters are suggested for adults. Bottled water is recommended for pregnant women and children.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/0...

i don't know what personal pathology would lead someone to downplay the risk of the poisoned water in Flint.

There is impact of lead at

rmrd0000 — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 15:58:19 +0000

In reply to Links can be useful and

There is impact of lead at all levels.

Please provide a link to how long lead stays in the body after exposure.

Links can be useful and

Peter — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 15:47:49 +0000

In reply to Peter frequently drops by

Links can be useful and informative,RM but you apparently didn't read or understand what this link was discussing or how it didn't relate to the Flint crisis directly. The studies discussed were from the era when 'chronic' elevated lead exposure was common in many urban areas of the US from leaded gasoline, paint or water and the acceptable levels of exposure were at least twice what they are today. Most of the affected children in Flint were the victims of an acute incident of exposure and weren't exposed before or after this year long incident. Most of them will not be treated because the lead will be excreted from their bodies rapidly but they will be monitored to insure they are not being chronically exposed from another source. The few children who were exposed to very high levels of lead are being treated to flush the lead from their bodies and they may or may not have lasting effects from this incident.

The government response to

Peter — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 15:19:32 +0000

In reply to Thank you for sharing your

The government response to this crisis was a failure at all levels local, state and federal but that seems to be how our system responds these days, poorly if at all. Informing people about the factual dangers of lead exposure is important and necessary but there was a huge amount of politically driven hysteria and misinformation dumped on the people of Flint after the government neglect and foot dragging left them frustrated and seeking aid. This hype and misinformation had mothers of unaffected children in Flint blaming health problems their children had on lead that they didn't have in their bodies. When someone as well known as Mike Moore states repeatedly in the media that every child in Flint has been poisoned and will have lifelong problems the people there don't know what to believe and this creates panic and unnecessary fear.

The dramatic reduction in children's exposure to lead in the US in the last thirty years is a success story but there are still problem areas especially in bankrupt depopulated cities such as Flint and other distressed urban areas and they existed before this crisis was caused by a stupid regulatory decision not to treat the Flint River water for corrosion. The lead pipes that need to be replaced, in Flint and elsewhere, are those remaining taps from the city water mains feeding homes and they are being replaced but there are also lead pipes from the meter to the residence that are the responsibility of the property owner and i don't think the government can legally pay for that private remediation but they may offer low interest loans.