I was stunned when I read this. First of all, this is a generous and kind offer. However, what was shocking to me was how ignorant Elon Musk was about the water situation in Flint Michigan and how little he knew about drinking water and who regulates it. The man is a genius and yet he did not know that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act. We need to teach the basics of how water, sewage, electricity and internet/ phone service are provided. So that the future decision makers will know what questions to Google or ask Suri or Alexa.
Under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), EPA sets standards for approximately 90 contaminants in drinking water including bacteria from human waste, industrial discharge streams (of great concern back in 1974 when the SDWA was first created) and water disinfection by-products and distribution system contaminants (last revised in 1990’s). For each of these contaminants, EPA sets a legal limit, called a maximum contaminant level. EPA requires that all public water supplies be tested for this list of contaminants on a regular basis (from daily, to quarterly, to every other year or longer depending on the contaminant and water system) and meet these minimum standards on average. In addition, EPA sets secondary standards for less hazardous substances based on aesthetic characteristics of taste, smell and appearance, which public water systems and states can choose to adopt or not.
After hearing from many, Mr. Musk later understood that most Flint homes have safe water and said he would organize an effort to add filters to houses that need them. However, it was promptly pointed out by many sources that the state already offers free filters to Flint residents. So, lets back up and review what happened in Flint, and how Mr. Musk can really fix it; because this could affect many more communities. Flint Michigan was not an aberration nor was it the worst incidence of lead in drinking water supplies, but rather some combination of determined population, blatant misrepresentation by public officials, the public sentiment that allowed Flint to become the poster child for lead in drinking water. In a 2017 examination of data, Reuters found 3,000 communities that had recently recorded lead levels at least double those in Flint during the peak of that city’s contamination crisis. So what happened in Flint.
In January 2016 the Governor of Michigan and the President of the United States declared an emergency in Flint, Michigan to authorized emergency assistance to provide water, water filters, water filter cartridges, water test kits, and other necessary items to address their water crisis. By then the drinking water supply in Flint Michigan had been contaminated for more than a year. The first contaminant to appear were high levels of viruses and bacteria, and inorganic contaminants such as salts and metals which were a result of inadequate treatment of the water, then high level of lead began to appear in homes. Reportedly, the lead was the result of slightly caustic, inadequately treated water leaching lead from the old distribution system.
The problems began when Flint decided to switch to the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) as the City’s permanent water source in a cost saving measure as wholesale water rates from the old Detroit system kept growing in an attempt to support rising maintenance, repair and operating costs in that system. KWA would supply water to the members by building a new pipeline from Lake Huron. While waiting for KWA pipeline to be completed, the City of Flint planned to use the Flint River as a temporary alternative water source.
The Flint Water Treatment staff and their consultants struggled to meet the Safe Drinking Water Act levels at the water treatment plant. Then residents noticed changes in the smell, color, and taste of the water coming out of their taps. Tests showed high levels of bacteria that forced the city to issue boil advisories. In response, the city upped its chlorine levels to kill the pathogens. This created too many disinfectant byproducts, which are carcinogens and corrosive. Then the corrosive water began leaching lead, other metals and whatever else was in the biofilm on the old pipes into the water in the homes. Flint’s water department might have been able to avert the disaster by having a corrosion management plan and using additives to diminish the corrosiveness of the water at a negligible cost, but there was an underlying problem that effects not only Flint.
For decades instead of replacing lead pipes urban water companies (especially in poor cities) have used chemicals to control lead and other chemicals from leaching into the water supply. Many at the American Water Works Association and other trade groups have questioned the wisdom of this strategy, there is always some lead leaching and many scientists believe that there is no safe level of lead in drinking water.
Most existing lead pipes are over 75 years old, are in the older cities of the east coast and mid-west and should have been replaced in the normal course of preventive maintenance program. Unfortunately, that is not how we operate in the United States. A few cities, including Madison, Wisconsin, and Lansing, Michigan, have taken steps to remove all of their lead pipes. Such projects can cost tens of millions of dollars in small communities.
The Flint Water Treatment staff and their consultants struggled to meet the Safe Drinking Water Act levels at the water treatment plant. Then residents noticed changes in the smell, color, and taste of the water coming out of their taps. Tests showed high levels of bacteria that forced the city to issue boil advisories. In response, the city upped its chlorine levels to kill the pathogens. This created too many disinfectant byproducts, which are carcinogens and corrosive. Then the corrosive water began leaching lead, other metals and whatever else was in the biofilm on the old pipes into the water in the homes. Flint’s water department might have been able to avert the disaster by having a corrosion management plan and using additives to diminish the corrosiveness of the water at a negligible cost, but there was an underlying problem that effects not only Flint.
For decades instead of replacing lead pipes urban water companies (especially in poor cities) have used chemicals to control lead and other chemicals from leaching into the water supply. Many at the American Water Works Association and other trade groups have questioned the wisdom of this strategy, there is always some lead leaching and many scientists believe that there is no safe level of lead in drinking water.
Most existing lead pipes are over 75 years old, are in the older cities of the east coast and mid-west and should have been replaced in the normal course of preventive maintenance program. Unfortunately, that is not how we operate in the United States. A few cities, including Madison, Wisconsin, and Lansing, Michigan, have taken steps to remove all of their lead pipes. Such projects can cost tens of millions of dollars in small communities.
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| from NRDC on the right a lead pipe treated with Orthophosphate |
It was estimated by the American Water Association that there are 6.5 million lead pipes still in service in the United States- and each would have to be replaced at an approximate cost of $15,000. In most water systems, these pipes are either partially or fully owned by the homeowner. Back in 2016 it was estimated that there were about 14,000 lead laterals (water pipes that run from the water mains in the street to the houses) that needed to be replaced for all residents to be assured that the water that reached their taps was as good quality as when it left the water treatment plant.
So, while it would be wonderful if Mr. Musk would pay for the replacement of the lead lateral pipes in Flint Michigan; there are many deserving communities in the United States and a limit to Mr. Musk's wealth. Maybe instead Mr. Musk can apply his creative genius to developing a method for removing pipes and replacing them without having to dig up every street and yard. If Mr. Musk could bring down the cost of pipe replacement to the $1,000-$2,000 price range Flint and other communities could afford to get rid of the lead pipes. There are at least 6.5 million households in the United States that could benefit from that invention.
So, while it would be wonderful if Mr. Musk would pay for the replacement of the lead lateral pipes in Flint Michigan; there are many deserving communities in the United States and a limit to Mr. Musk's wealth. Maybe instead Mr. Musk can apply his creative genius to developing a method for removing pipes and replacing them without having to dig up every street and yard. If Mr. Musk could bring down the cost of pipe replacement to the $1,000-$2,000 price range Flint and other communities could afford to get rid of the lead pipes. There are at least 6.5 million households in the United States that could benefit from that invention.
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