The Flint water crisis was a s public health crisis which involved the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan , being contaminated with lead and possibly Legionella bacteria. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water, which resulted in lead from aging pipes leaching into the water supply , exposing around , residents to elevated lead levels. Shortly thereafter, President Barack Obama declared a federal state of emergency, authorizing additional help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
Between 6, and 14, children were exposed to drinking water with high levels of lead. The water supply change was considered a possible cause of an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the county that killed 12 people and affected another 87, but the original source of the bacteria was never found.
In January , former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and eight other officials were charged with 34 felony counts and seven misdemeanorsβ41 counts in allβfor their role in the crisis. An extensive lead service pipe replacement effort has been underway since In early , some officials asserted that the water quality had returned to acceptable levels, but in January , residents and officials expressed doubt about the cleanliness of the water.
Politico declared that its water is "just as good as any city's in Michigan. The following is a sequence of events related to the Flint water crisis. Some water service lines in Flint were installed between and Lead from the pipes can leach into the water, especially if certain contaminants are present. However, the water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, where Flint had obtained its water since , had been treated well enough that the leaching from the lead pipes was at levels considered acceptable by state and federal environmental protection agencies.
Lead exposure across the U. Children under age five, and especially infants and unborn children, bear the greatest risk of deleterious and irreversible health outcomes. Acidic water makes it easier for the lead found in pipes, leaded solder, and brass faucets to dissolve and to enter a home's drinking water. Therefore, public water treatment systems are legally required to use control measures to make water less acidic. Plumbing that contains lead is often found in buildings constructed in the s and earlier.
