
The company then decided to purchase water from the neighboring township, which has Lake Huron as the main water source.Īt the beginning of the following year, the city has announced the risk of the byproducts of the disinfectants used in the water. The said company has stopped using the city’s water because of the high levels of chlorine that corrode the engine parts of their vehicles. This increased amount of chlorine in the water did not do well for General Motors. And similarly to what they have done before, the local government just added more chlorine to the system and flushed the pipes clean. coli and other more disease-causing organisms could be polluting the water. Moreover, it is said that if this bacteria was present, then it is possible that E. The local government then increased the amount of chlorine in the water and flushed the system.īut unfortunately, Flint has issued another report stating that the water is positive of total coliform bacteria. Last August 14, 2014, the city found out that the water is contaminated with fecal coliform bacterium and advised the citizens to boil the water first before consuming it. And while the pipeline is still under construction, the city used the Flint River as a temporary water source and this is when the city faced its crisis. Moreover, Flint encountered a major public health emergency after its water supply has been contaminated with lead and other more toxins.ĭue to the fund's shortfall, the local government decided to build a new pipeline that delivers water coming from Lake Huron. Flint then faced a deep economic depression this made the city’s population lower down to half. Moreover, the city was named the “Vehicle City” and grew into a manufacturing powerhouse for General Motors’s Buick and Chevrolet cars.īut the city’s glory didn’t last after General Motors downsized its workforce from 80,000 to 8,000 within the vicinity. The 19 th century is one of the golden times of the said place during this time, Flint became one of the major lumbering areas in the Saginaw Trail history became the leading manufacturer of automobiles and carriages. This place was founded in 1918 by a fur trader named Jacob Smith and then was known for great achievement and has left good remarks in history. It is located near the Flint River and is the principal city in the region of Mid-Michigan. Flint’s Water Crisisįlint is known as the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States. What caused the Flint, Michigan water crisis? Follow the timeline of where it all started and know where the situation is at present. Families have been suffering for months without clean water. They informed only about nine months later about the problem.

Even though the water failed tests several times after the switch. The worse thing was, the state knew about it and did nothing.Ī high number of children had abnormal levels of lead in their blood.

When residents’ drinking water was pulled from the river, when the residents noticed that the tap water looked and smelled strange, it was later found to have a dangerous lead level. And that decision turned out to be a mistake.įoul smells, bad tastes, and discolored water that’s what came out of the tap in Flint, Michigan. In the meantime, to save and cut costs, they switched to the Flint River water. But the new system wouldn’t be ready for two years. The trouble began about three years ago when the city decided to switch from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River. An estimated 58% of the residents under age 18 live below the poverty line compared to a national average of 18%, which ranks first in the childhood poverty base from Michigan's 2016 median household income data. Census Bureau, Flint has the nation's highest poverty rate among U.S.

The city has a population of around 99,700 and is located 70 miles north of Detroit.Īccording to 2016 data from the U.S. But, what if your water was poison? This is exactly what happened in Flint, Michigan, about three years ago. Humans can live for three weeks without food but only three days without water. Therefore, water indeed is essential.
