Flint Michigan, the next Hinkley, California?

The water from the Flint River was 19 times more corrosive than the water from Lake Huron, and they weren't treating the water to keep it from being corrosive.

 

Right.

That resulted in toxic water coming out of folks' tap.

It's not what caused the damage to the pipes.

 

So if they had not tried to save a few bucks and use the river water the problem would not exist. At leat currently.

 

But, the pipes were damaged from years of neglect, right?

 

No, the pipes were "used" to the less-corrosive (Detroit) water from Lake Huron. When the water source was changed to the more-polluted Flint River, a certain pH level was passed and the pipes began leaching lead into the water.

 

Is there a good article I can read that explains this?

 

No one from the Flint water utility could have foreseen this?

 

Amazing that all of those millions of budget dollars earmarked for infrastructure repair never found their way to this project, right? How does that happen?

 

Yes. People warned them. Surprisingly, the more "cost-effective" method trumped the whiny experts.

 

I'm sure an invisible hand can sort this out.

 

Calcium carbonate (scaling) builds up inside of pipes over time and keeps lead from pipes or soldered joints from leaching into the tap water. Higher acidic content in the water supply strips away that calcium carbonate, allowing lead to leach into the tap water.

Water can be treated to make it less acidic. The Flint water supply was not.

Newer houses do not use lead pipe or solder. Replacing plumbing in an older house is expensive.

 

Oct. 7, 2015

Put Flint back on Detroit water ASAP, expert panel tells mayor, governor


"We need to switch to a different water source, and right now. The quickest way to do that is (the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department)," said Dr. Lawrence Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of Mott Children's Health Center. "We can't stay in the spot we are in right now."