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Hmm...reading further the problem doesn't seem to be one handled well by EPA standards. The new water supply is more corrosive than the old water supply, so in

Hmm...reading further the problem doesn't seem to be one handled well by EPA standards. The new water supply is more corrosive than the old water supply, so in poorer neighborhoods with lead piping, more lead (sometimes significantly) is being leeched from the pipes than before.

DanBC 11y ago
But why aren't the EPA / Water companies testing what comes out of the pipes?
- monkbroc 11y ago
  The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality instructed Flint residents to flush their tap for 2 minutes before sampling the water which under-represented the amount of lead in the water. The EPA doesn't explicitly forbid flushing but doesn't recommend it. http://flintwaterstudy.org/ http://flintwaterstudy.org/
andor436 11y ago
The State DEQ applied the wrong federal standards: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/10/top_state_water_official_repla.html http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/10/top_state_...
Tossrock 11y ago
Why are they using lead pipes? I understand that they may have a legacy system put in place before the dangers of lead were fully understood, but when your water distribution system is literally made of poison, I don't understand how replacing it could be back-burnered.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  That's how America works unfortunately.
- mturmon 11y ago
  In theory, you are right. In practice, replacement of legacy lead pipes is more complex. Briefly: replacing only some of the pipes can cause lead levels to increase due to (1) disturbance of nearby lead pipes during replacement; (2) ongoing galvanic effects near the replacement; (3) interfaces between the utility's new lead-free lines and a customer's old lead lines, if the customer does not choose to replace at the same time the utility does. Point (3) is especially troublesome. Even if the utility replaces all its lead pipes, things could get much worse for customers that don't follow suit right away. For (much) more: http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/toxic-taps/story/toxic-taps-lead-is-still-the-problem/ http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/tox... All these issues are just about pipe replacement, as distinct from higher lead levels due to pH changes or use of chloramines rather than chlorine (which was a surprise, see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1817707/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1817707/).
  - Tossrock 11y ago
    Thanks, this was really informative. Makes me glad I live in California.

DanBC 11y ago

But why aren't the EPA / Water companies testing what comes out of the pipes?

monkbroc 11y ago
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality instructed Flint residents to flush their tap for 2 minutes before sampling the water which under-represented the amount of lead in the water. The EPA doesn't explicitly forbid flushing but doesn't recommend it. http://flintwaterstudy.org/ http://flintwaterstudy.org/

andor436 11y ago

The State DEQ applied the wrong federal standards: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/10/top_state_water_official_repla.html http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/10/top_state_...

Tossrock 11y ago

Why are they using lead pipes? I understand that they may have a legacy system put in place before the dangers of lead were fully understood, but when your water distribution system is literally made of poison, I don't understand how replacing it could be back-burnered.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
That's how America works unfortunately.
mturmon 11y ago
In theory, you are right. In practice, replacement of legacy lead pipes is more complex. Briefly: replacing only some of the pipes can cause lead levels to increase due to (1) disturbance of nearby lead pipes during replacement; (2) ongoing galvanic effects near the replacement; (3) interfaces between the utility's new lead-free lines and a customer's old lead lines, if the customer does not choose to replace at the same time the utility does. Point (3) is especially troublesome. Even if the utility replaces all its lead pipes, things could get much worse for customers that don't follow suit right away. For (much) more: http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/toxic-taps/story/toxic-taps-lead-is-still-the-problem/ http://investigativereportingworkshop.org/investigations/tox... All these issues are just about pipe replacement, as distinct from higher lead levels due to pH changes or use of chloramines rather than chlorine (which was a surprise, see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1817707/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1817707/).
- Tossrock 11y ago
  Thanks, this was really informative. Makes me glad I live in California.