The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has been going on a lot longer than people have been hearing about it. The residents of Flint had been drinking contaminated water for well over a year before any one even bothered to hear them out, let alone try and fix the problem.

After complaints were finally heard, some hope came to the citizens. In early 2016, President Obama declared Flint a national emergency and dispatched military to distribute clean water to residents. That was months ago.

The initial surge was a great relief for the people who lived there. They had finally been heard and were getting drinkable water. Based on the lead-contaminated water they had been forced to deal with, this was a huge improvement. However, passing out bottled water to residents is not a viable long-term solution, and long-term damage has already been done.

The Starting Point

Way back in April of 2014, Flint made the decision to be thrifty. The town thought it would be a smart, simple move to switch its water supply from the costlier Detroit water over to the Flint River. The city was struggling financially, and it needed some kind of interim solution while a new pipeline was completed. This action should have saved the city about $5 million over two years.

The problem was the water the city had been getting from Detroit was pretreated, and the Flint River was not. The city failed to add in the proper chemicals that would treat the water as effectively as it should have. This resulted in two major problems.

The first problem was not all the bacteria was killed, and coliform bacteria was found in parts of the city. Residents in those areas were advised to boil their water, and other areas were told it was still safe to drink. There was also discoloration due to rusty pipes. That in itself isn’t particularly dangerous.

However, the rust wasn’t the only thing coming off the pipes. The water was corrosive enough that the pipes were leaching lead into the water supply, and people were beginning to be affected.

High lead levels were first detected in early 2015, but they weren’t high enough to violate EPA standards. Part of that may have been due to how the water was being tested. A “pre-flush” system was in place, which could effectively disguise how much lead was in the water. It took another year of complaints, videos, protesting and increased illnesses before anyone did anything. This is despite the fact that several red flags had been raised since 2014, and those should have been enough to attract attention.

The Aftermath

The river water damaged Flint’s pipes so much that they are still leaching lead. Even though the city finally switched back over to Detroit’s water in October, 2015, Flint’s water is still considered undrinkable. The pipes are already damaged, and until they’re fixed, there’s nothing to be done for it.

Additionally, there are all the people who were impacted. It’s still up in the air how many children may have been affected by the lead in the water. There’s also an investigation going on to see if the Flint River water contributed to an outbreak of Legionnaires Disease, which has so far killed 10 people.

All of this means that there is no easy fix for Flint’s water. There is a plan developing, but it’s not going to be quick or easy. The government is going to have the infrastructure damages repaired, which will require a massive overhaul of the piping system. 

Meanwhile, all that can be done is advise people not use the water and continue to distribute bottled water and water filters. It’s estimated repairing the groundwork alone will cost about $1.5 billion. In addition, there are estimated to be about 6,000 to 12,000 children who may have been affected by lead poisoning. Lead can cause a multitude of issues, including behavior problems, anemia and learning disabilities.

The end result is as many as 12,000 children may have had their futures damaged, and all the city can do is pass out water filters. It’s not enough. Quite frankly, it will never be enough.