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In April 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan switched its water source from Detroit’s Lake Huron to the Flint River as a cost saving measure. The river was known to be heavily polluted and high in corrosive chloride salts. Following the change, iron and lead pipes began to breakdown causing metal particles to leach into the water, resulting in colored and turbid water. In August 2014, city officials detected high levels of coliform bacteria such as E. coli and added chlorine as a disinfectant and antiseptic. Cl2 generates an equilibrium mixture of HOCl, and HCl when dissolved in water. A spike of trihalomethane byproducts such as CHCl3 were thus detectable in the water. Iron liberated from corroding pipes reduces Cl2, reducing its efficacy as a disinfectant. A subsequent outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the Flint area led to 87 reported cases of atypical pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria resulting in 14 deaths.
In February 2015, the EPA found levels of lead in flint tap water to be 7x the acceptable limit. They encouraged Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality to use treatments such as corrosive inhibitors to keep lead from leaching into drinking water to no result. The EPA did not publicize their findings or concerns due to the state's insistence that “such controls were not required by law". A laboratory study in September 2015, showed Flint River water leached 12x more lead than water from Detroit. They further demonstrated that a common orthophophates corrosive inhibitor would have been inadequate due to the high corrosiveness of the Flint River water. In September 2015, Virginia Tech reported 40% of Flint homes had elevated levels of lead and the Hurley Medical Center released a study showing an increased number of children with high levels of lead in their blood. Children can orally absorb 40-50% of water-soluble lead compared to 3-10% for adults, making them especially at risk.
The lead poisonings in Flint are not an isolated incident. It’s a foreboding problem in plumbing systems throughout America. In December 2016, Reuters released a report concluding there were ~3,000 other locations in the U.S. where lead in the tap water was at least 2x the concentration of Flint’s drinking water; including Warren, Pennsylvania where 36% of children showed high lead levels, and Goat Island, Texas, where 25% of children’s blood tests showed elevated lead-levels. Remote areas of Baltimore, Cleveland, and Philadelphia, show elevated levels of lead in 40-50% of children. Even slight elevation of blood-lead levels in children can reduce IQ, stunt development, and cause behavioral problems. Lead exposure has been linked to physical problems, such as anemia, kidney dysfunction, high blood pressure, GI problems, and neurological side effects.
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