The problem in Flint occurred back in April of 2014 when the city needed to cut costs. Instead of buying their water from Detroit, city and state officials approved a plan for Flint to start using water straight from the Flint River. However, the increased salt levels in the Flint River (as opposed to Lake Huron) were not taken into consideration. Increased salt leads to an increase in chloride ions, which makes the river water highly corrosive when travelling through old city water pipes into the homes of Flint residents. The corrosive water casued a breakdown of the pipes, leaking lead into the water supply.

All of this could have been avoided by the addition of an anti-corrosive agent to the water supply, one in which city officials declined to use when switching the water source. Declination of this was a breach of federal law, and has some very dire consequences.

Lead can cause a variety of health problems in both adults and children. Some of the immediate symptoms can include vomiting, rashes, increased blood pressure, weight loss, irritability and headaches. However, the long term effects on young children should be the main concern in this case. Learning disabilities, decreased IQ, stunted growth, mood disorders and behavioral issues are all huge concerns for the future of these Flint residents.

Now, what’s being done to solve this problem? Unfortunately, this is no quick fix. The city switched back to its primary water source in Detroit back in October, but the damage was already done. An estimated 55 million dollars will be needed to restore healthy drinking water to Flint. There have been multiple resignations from a variety of city officials, and rumors of government corruption has escalated this problem as a whole. Michigan’s Attorney General is investigating whether or not any laws were broken in the water crisis, while many others are demanding that Governor Rick Snyder step down.

The National Guard, FEMA, and multiple members of the community have been doing all they can to help those in need. There have been stations set up throughout the city to give away free bottled water, as well as water filters, to the citizens of Flint.

On January 16, President Obama approved a plan to give Flint 5 million dollars in federal aid to help start the recovery process. There are also many non profit organizations and GoFundMe accounts to help pay for clean water for residents.

This crisis is far from over and there are certainly many more changes that must be made before the city of Flint is healthy once again. If you’d like to donate, you can visit the Bottles For The Babies initiative at gofundme.com/eu55u3n4.

Keep up with this story at http://flintwaterstudy.org/

References:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/15/health/flint-michiga...

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lead...

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/06/...