To properly flush out lead particles and spread the needed chemical phosphates and chlorine that will better protect the system, wary residents need to run the water in their homes more heavily than they have, Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards, a water engineer who first raised the issue of Flint’s lead contamination, told reporters.
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“In one way or another everyone is involved in this, helping out in some way because of the impact it’s had on the community”, he said.
The research team believes if Flint uses more water, the system could be safe and clean in less than a month. While lead levels had decreased since August, levels of iron, which have caused water in some Flint homes to turn red, were also down from last year’s study.
Two weeks ago, Flint homeowners were sent a personal letter from the Flint Water Study team with their individual results. “All Flint residents should continue to use bottled water, or Flint water passed through a lead filter, for cooking or drinking until further notice”.
As the city continues to wrestle with a state of emergency that has kept residents from drinking water straight from the tap for months, a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing to try to learn about the infrastructure issues in Flint and look at the short- and long-term health implications of the city’s lead-contaminated water on residents. It was a move created to save Flint money but triggered a citywide crisis after it was discovered that proper corrosion controls were not used to prevent lead from leaching into the water supply. If nothing else, it should help raise public awareness among owners of older homes to get their water tested and then take the action they consider best for them and their families. But the city would still fall short of federal standards for lead in drinking water based on the recent sampling, and spikes in lead levels could still occur in the city, researchers said.
When the results came back, the news wasn’t good: Elevated levels of lead in their blood. More dramatic improvements were observed in flushed water samples, with a 50 percent reduction in lead levels in March 2016 compared to August 2015.
Investigators found that these homes may have been trying to reduce their water bills.
In his prepared testimony, Lyon said the department has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a tool kit that will help health care facilities “prevent the growth of Legionella in water systems”.
“The delivery of the cure is simply not happening with the system at its current level”.
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“The system is definitely on its path to recovery”, Edwards said.
