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> Flint, MI seems to be a unique issue As many as 20% of Americans have been exposed to unsafe drinking water at least once in the past decade[0], Flint is in

> Flint, MI seems to be a unique issue As many as 20% of Americans have been exposed to unsafe drinking water at least once in the past decade[0], Flint is in no way an outlier. The cost to upgrade old pipe systems is completely out of reach for poor communities throughout America. Between the flight of manufacturing overseas hollowing out jobs in cities from the Northeast all the way through the Midwest and Southern US and the introduction of the private equity model, life is indeed worse for millions of Americans. Just look at the political climate we’re currently in, that anger is coming from a very real place. Spend some time in Detroit or the Rust Belt, it’s a profoundly sad experience. 0: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/08/14/63-million-americans-exposed-unsafe-drinking-water/564278001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/08/14/63-million-am...

luckylion 6y ago
Oh, I wasn't aware of the water delivery systems being too old in that many counties, though it does say "potentially unsafe", e.g. one incident was "not building a cover for one of its water reservoirs". Still, it's obviously a problem that's going to cost a lot of money. I don't know how good it was in rural towns 40 years ago, though. Detroit was certainly doing better, but I'd also assume that testing and requirements have changed since then, so you might still have a similar quality today, but it's not considered safe today. Whether that's responsible for the political climate, I don't know. We've seen lots of changes in Europe as well and we don't face infrastructure issues of that magnitude and our dying industries are a bit more spread out over the country, so you get fewer pockets of absolute desperation.
tasuki 6y ago
Not long ago, 90% of humans were exposed to unsafe drinking water every day. 20% of Americans exposed at least once in the past decade does not sound too bad. Does that include people drinking from streams while hiking?

luckylion 6y ago

Oh, I wasn't aware of the water delivery systems being too old in that many counties, though it does say "potentially unsafe", e.g. one incident was "not building a cover for one of its water reservoirs". Still, it's obviously a problem that's going to cost a lot of money. I don't know how good it was in rural towns 40 years ago, though. Detroit was certainly doing better, but I'd also assume that testing and requirements have changed since then, so you might still have a similar quality today, but it's not considered safe today. Whether that's responsible for the political climate, I don't know. We've seen lots of changes in Europe as well and we don't face infrastructure issues of that magnitude and our dying industries are a bit more spread out over the country, so you get fewer pockets of absolute desperation.

tasuki 6y ago

Not long ago, 90% of humans were exposed to unsafe drinking water every day. 20% of Americans exposed at least once in the past decade does not sound too bad. Does that include people drinking from streams while hiking?