What can be done about Flint water?

[question everything]

Once we are past the blames and the accusations..

Will reconnecting to Detroit water solve the problem? Or will the whole pipes infrastructure will have to be replaced? I really want to know, no snarks or sarcasm...

[Siwsan]

1. The whole pipe structure needs to be replaced

When they ran the untreated Flint water through the pipes, it caused the corrosion that then triggered the lead to leech into the water. Even with the new, treated water going through the pipes, the lead is still leeching.

From what I understand, it will cost over $700,000,000 to replace all of the pipes.

[question everything]

4. This is terrible.

Would be nice if all the CEOs and Trump with their millions would band together and each contribute, say $10 million. They can even get some tax benefit for this, I don't care.

[Jim__]

2. I believe Flint is reconnected to Detroit water.

This is from October ( source ):

FLINT, MI -- Water from Detroit is flowing into Flint again.

But it'll be about three weeks before all of the city's pipes are clear of water from the Flint River, city officials said Friday

But, I think the pipes are still leeching lead.

[valerief]

3. It has been for some time, as I understand it, but the damage is done.

People have been irreparably damaged, along with all the lead pipes, including those in private homes. Everything is broken. To save $140 a day.

[3catwoman3]

5. Hell of a trade off.

Snyder is a total shithead

[FSogol]

10. The pipes aren't lead. The higher salinity of the untreated river water

leaches lead out of the solder and fittings.

The entire boondoggle is the end result of Republican politics, the refusal to improve infrastructure, and brainless cost-cutting. If wish more people would say that since the GOP can take stances of "the Govt f'ed up" and "both sides do it" and pass the buck.

[valerief]

12. Read this about the lead pipes in homes.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141322426

“I hope and pray they start releasing some money,” said homeowner Arthur Woodson, a disabled veteran who lives in a house like many in Flint: built with lead plumbing that, until the city switched to a new water source in 2014, was considered safe.

[FSogol]

17. That seriously sucks. Here in the DC Metro area, most service lines (the ones prior

to 1950 were lead) have been replaced. Anytime major construction is done on a property, the old service lines were replaced. Aside from a few areas, most have been gone since the late '90s. When they replace those pipes, they test the water and then place a filter on the line, to remove the lead/impurities, for 6 months, and then test again.

[Texasgal]

6. Everything needs replacing.

I've heard that lead can live in pipes for a long time, there will be a residual effect.

New water doesn't solve this issue. I am so angry by all of this!

[backscatter712]

7. Make Gov. Snyder drink a glass every day, until it's fixed.

I'm all for the Darth Vader school of Motivational Management...

[Warpy]

8. Chances are the water can be made safe enough to shower in

and do laundry in but if I lived there, I'd want a water service for drinking and cooking. I don't say that lightly, I've had to live like that and it was not fun and I think anyone who uses bottled water and doesn't have to is nuts. As I understand it, the pipes from water treatment plant to tap would have to be replaced to get all the contaminants out.

[B Calm]

9. The piping is ruined and dangerous. No easy fix because they need replaced with

new pipes. They say it will cost approx 1.5 billion dollars.

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. On the bright side, it's a major jobs program for the whole region, of not the whole state

[Crepuscular]

11. Lead service lines

Lead service lines and pipes exist in almost every city in this country. For the most part, over time, pipes become coated with a hard mineral scale on their interior surfaces. This mineral scale forms a buffer between the lead surface of service lines and the lead solder in the joints of older copper pipes and keeps lead from leaching into the water. Municipal water supplies add phosphates to the water to keep that mineral scale intact, as a means of mitigating the presence of lead in old plumbing.

The problem that occurred in Flint was due to the fact that when the switch to Flint River water occurred, the water treatment plant in Flint did not add phosphates to the water, a corrosion control practice called optimization. The lack of phosphates allowed the mineral scale inside the pipes of the water system to erode, exposing the lead underneath and allowing lead to leach into the water.

Now that the water supply has been reconnected to Detroit, the water flowing through the Flint system is once again being treated with phosphates which should prevent further erosion of the interior coating of pipes. Over time mineral scale will again build up, encapsulating the lead and limiting leaching from occurring. In the mean time, potable water should be filtered with filters rated to eliminate lead.

The dirty little secret that nobody in the media has been mentioning yet is that the KWA pipeline is going to be finished this year and sometime in 2016 Flint will be switching over to KWA water as it's new source. While KWA will be drawing water from Lake Huron, the same source as the Detroit water, unlike the Detroit water, the KWA water will not be treated, so it will be up to the Flint Water Treatment Plant to treat the water, including adding phosphates to prevent the same issue as occurred with the Flint River water. It will be interesting to see what happens when that occurs, hopefully this time it will be done correctly and nobody will be put at risk but I doubt there is a lot of confidence in either the Flint Water Department, the DEQ or the EPA, at this point.

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. Human beings have known for a long time how to transport clean water to cities

It's not a matter of a scientific conundrum. It is a matter of expense and political will.

Everybody knows what needs to be done.

[smirkymonkey]

15. They know what needs to be done but will they do it?

And how long will it take them? It' makes me sick that in such a wealthy country, shit like this still persists. There is no excuse for it.

[1939]

16. Problem isn't the cleanliness of the water

The problem is that they didn't "dirty up the water" with phosphates to keep the crappy distribution and household piping from leaching lead into the water.

EPA is currently fighting phosphate runoff from fertilizers into rivers which "shows to go you" that there are a lot of tradeoffs.