Government Security News January 2017 Digital Edition

Flint drinking water weren’t reported
to the public for 18 months; however,
the corrosion happened quickly,
especially in the warmer summer
months. Without effective treatment
to control corrosion, Flint’s water
leached high levels of Lead from the
city’s pipes into city drinking water.
Following the switch, E. coli bacteria
was also found in the water.
To combat E. coli, extra Chlorine
was added as a disinfectant to remove
it. Ferric chloride was also added as
a coagulant to remove organic matter
from the water, initiating a domino
effect of chemical causes and effects.
Flint’s water quality problems were
also caused by corrosion in both the
Lead and Iron pipes that distribute
water. When city residents began using
the Flint River as its water source,
the water’s ability to corrode those
pipes wasn’t adequately controlled.
This led to high Lead levels, rustcolored
tap water, and the growth of
pathogenic microbes.
When Flint changed its water supply,
the city didn’t adequately control
corrosion. Flint isn’t the only city susceptible
to these problems. The pipes
in its old distribution system had seen
the same water for decades, similar to
many other cities. Switching water
supplies changed the chemistry of the
water flowing through those pipes.
When a switch like this happens,
the chemistry in the water system
moves toward a new equilibrium. In
Flint the change was catastrophic.
Flint was getting its water from the
Detroit Water & Sewerage Department,
which would draw water from
Lake Huron and then treat it before
sending it to Flint.
To lower the city’s water costs, in
2013 Flint officials decided to take
water from another source which was
building its own pipeline from the
lake. Shortly after that, Detroit told
Flint it would terminate their original
long-term water agreement within a
year and offered to negotiate a new,
short-term agreement. Flint declined
the offer. While waiting for the new
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Pipeline under construction will supply Flint, Michigan with water from Lake Huron.
pipeline to be finished, Flint began
taking water from the Flint River and
treating it at the city plant.
Problems with the city’s tap water
started the summer after the switch
in 2014. First, residents noticed foultasting,
reddish water coming out of
their taps. In August, the city issued
alerts about E-coli contamination and
told people to boil the water before
using it. A General Motors plant in
Flint stopped using the water because
it was corroding steel parts.
In early 2015 Lead reached Flint’s
University of Michigan campus. Researchers
sampled water from 252
Flint homes and reported the results
(www.flintwaterstudy.org). Hurley
Children’s Hospital in Flint released
data showing that since the water
change, the number of Flint children
with elevated levels of lead in their
blood had increased from 2.4% to
4.9% (4) .
Lead is neurotoxic, causing behavioral
problems and decreased intelligence.
The Blood Brain Barrier limits
the passage of ions, but because it has
not formed in children, they can absorb
from 40% to 50% of water-soluble
Lead compared with 3% to 10%
for adults (5) .
So why did the switch to Flint’s river
water cause this catastrophe? As water
travels through the miles of pipes in a
city’s distribution system, molecules
of contaminants in the water react
with the pipes themselves, acting as a
geochemical reactor. There are miles
and miles of pipes, some Iron, some