Poisonous Water from Flint River

Synopsis

Water is life, but it is poison to over 99,000 people of Michigan. The economic condition of the people uses to thrive very well until General Motors downsized the plant forcing over 42% of the people in Michigan to live in poverty. However, the point of concern here is on the actions that took place resulting to supply of Flint water with high level of contaminants. Snyder was the governor in 2010, and one of the promises was to come up with a team of experts that will help to transform the municipality, which is languishing in financial terms. Snyder manages to make use of the law to appoint two emergency managers that played a vital role concerning the supply of contaminated water. One of the main objectives of the emergency team was to find alternative and cheaper source water in comparison to the Department of Detroit Water and Sewerage where they charge high rates.

Leaving Detroit water supply system took place after voting in 2013 enabling people to switch to the Lake Huron for water supply. Ed Kurtz in 2013 manages to make it official to change of water supply system, and there was approval of $81 million to finance the project. Kurtz even though water pipeline from Lake Huron was underway, manage to commission a study to investigate if water from the Flint River was appropriate to be a source water supply. The conclusion from the survey shows the Flint River could be an alternative source of water, but there were challenges in it. Scott admitted that there was no discussion during the council's vote concerning using the Flint River as the primary source of water. The emergency team ended the Detroit project and implemented the plan to use Flint River, and in a matter of days, water started flowing to the homes even though the treatment plant for Flint River was not ready.

The Flint water treatment plant was unable to add some of the chemicals in water treatment process because they lack vital pieces of equipment and would have had to wait for more than three months for installation. Water to residents began to turn brown and had a smell of chlorine and some families like LeeAnne manage to see changes in their families where everyone started to lose hair and children complain of various problems. The Walter's family was also battling with the issues where children kept breaking out in rashes moreover, stopped growing forcing him to seek medical attention. At some point, LeeAnne manages to lose all the eyelashes due to the effect of using water with contaminants. People responsible for water quality managed to come to Walter's home to test the quality of water but used an inaccurate method. Officials also claimed that the problem was from plumbing in Walter's house and not the source of water. After 17 months of people using contaminated water, Flint officials manage to notify people that the water contains high amounts of trihalomethanes that is likely to cause problems concerning liver, kidney, and nervous system. The notice was addressing mainly the sick and elderly that they were at risk, but they could continue using water since it was safe forcing people to use water for the entire 2015.

Marc Edwards test revealed that lead concentrations were far beyond the acceptable levels by the EPA forcing Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha to conduct a further investigation that showed that children below the age of five were under significant risk having high levels of lead after using Flint River water. Flint-area suffered from Legionnaires' disease as from June 2014 to November 2015, where 87 people went to the hospital, and nine lost their lives though there are no scientific facts to prove that Flint water was the primary cause of these cases. However, one the expert manages to link Legionnaires' disease with the poor quality of water using scientific studies elsewhere. Residents of Flint had many challenges as they try to live with the problem. They could use bottled water to drink and wash dishes and showering was a problem because of skin rashes that occur on using tainted water. Many residents manage to wait in a long line to receive contraptions called Pump-N-Sprays so that people can attach it to the five-gallon bottle of water as makes shifts showers. The emergency team powers and authority lead to the tragedy after ignoring the warning from the US Environmental Protection Agency that the water was not safe since it had no anticorrosion safeguards that could prevent residents from corrosive Flint River water. Local officials also contributed to the problem by accepting the decision of using Flint River water and yet another pipeline to Lake Huron was underway. The MDEQ was also accountable for failing to enforce drinking water regulation, and the state health department received criticism of failing to protect the health of the public. As of August 2016, current and former state officials face counts for neglecting duty and withholding information from the public concerning contamination of drinking water in the city.

First problem

One of the issues is when the emergency managers decide to look for a cheaper source of water, leading to the decision of ending the Detroit water project as the main water supply to the city. They opt to Flint River as the primary water source without following the right procedure that governs the state in supplying quality water to the public.

Cause of the first problem

The cause of the above problem is the emergency managers failing to adhere to the regulation and procedures that govern the process of supplying water to the people of Michigan. In search of a cheaper source of water to the public, emergency managers decided to come up with a new project that is Flint River as soon as possible without having a complete discussion about the impacts of the projects. Emergency managers enabled the Flint River to start treating and supplying water to the residents even without having some of the necessary pieces of equipment that ensure proper treatment of water to enable quality water supply.

Recommendation for the first problem

Sufficient information is a key to sound decision-making; therefore, the emergency manager should have conducted a complete discussion, and investigations to enable them to have reliable information about impacts of changing to Flint River as the source of water (Edzwald, 2010). Operating the treatment plant without all the pieces of equipment was wrong because all the stuff works together in the treatment of water is enabling quality water supply to the residents (McGhee, 1991). Without all the necessary equipment, water out of the treatment plant will be of poor quality and unfit for human consumption.

Second problem

The inability of the state official to test the quality of water accurately that they supply to the residents forcing the residents to use water that they do not know if it is fit for human use.

Cause of the second problem

The state official used an inaccurate method to test the quality of water they supply to the residents, even though there are methods and procedures to guide the process of testing water quality. The official also went ahead, blame the plumping systems in the home of residents, and claim that there is no contamination of water at the source, but in reality, Flint River was the primary source of pollution.

Recommendation for the second problem

Since some accurate methods and procedures help in administering proper water quality test, the officials should stick to the specific techniques that will ensure that the results are correct (Shelton, 2013). The official would have gotten the accurate information if they have used the proper method of testing water quality and this could have helped in correcting the issue of contaminated water in the supply system.

Third problem

The fail of MDEQ to enforce regulations that govern drinking water is another problem. People were drinking water full of contaminants resulting in various side effects that include rashes falling hair and even stunted growth in children.

Cause of the third problem

MDEQ did not adhere to the regulations that ensure that people should have high quality water by making sure that the treatment plant works appropriately. There was a decision of providing an improvement of the treatment plant, but it did not take place, forcing people to continue using poor quality water without receiving the appropriate information from the officials concerning the state of water they are using.

Recommendation for the third problem

Some standards dictate the quality of water that people should use ensuring that water-supplying companies meet the criteria before supplying water to the public (Viessman, 1998). If MDEQ was able to meet the standards, the quality of water they provide could have been of high quality. There is a need to adhere to the regulations that govern water supply to safeguard the lives of the public by ensuring the supply of high quality safe water (Edition, 2011). Water is a basic need for every individual, so it is essential to provide that the supply of the commodity be of high quality and safe to use.

References 

Edition, F. (2011). Guidelines for drinking-water quality. WHO chronicle, 38(4) , 104-108.

Edzwald, J. K. (2010). Water Quality and Treatment A Handbook on Drinking Water. McGrawHill.

McGhee, T. J. (1991). Water supply and sewerage (Vol. 6). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Shelton, A. M. (2013). The accuracy of water quality monitoring data: a comparison between citizen scientists and professionals. 

Viessman, W. H. (1998). Water supply and pollution control.