State and trends
Box 2.4.3: The case of Flint, Michigan
In April 2014, the City of Flint, Michigan changed its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River that runs through the city. Previously, the city purchased water from Detroit, which pumped it out of Lake Huron. The decision by Flint to make this change in water source occurred because in 2013, Flint had voted to acquire water from a new pipeline being built to Lake Huron rather than Detroit, prompting Detroit to cancel its agreement and raise rates. Rather than agree to higher rates, Flint decided to use the local river as a temporary measure to save money.
By late summer of 2014, customers began complaining of stomach problems, losing hair and developing rashes. In August, E. coli was found in the City’s water, forcing Flint to issue advisories to boil water before use. Residents were concerned with the odour, colour, and taste of the water. Many alleged that the water appeared to be causing health concerns including rashes, stomach problems, hair loss, respiratory infections, and anaemia. Ultimately, many of the health issues were related to lead contamination in the water system. The water in the Flint River was more corrosive than the previously used water, and caused exposure and corrosion of leaded pipes in the distribution system. Most cities add a chemical to offset corrosion, but Flint River water was not treated with a corrosion-inhibitor, so lead leached out of pipes.
Health records indicate that that the percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels in Flint had gone from 2.4 per cent to 4.9 per cent citywide and that the percentage of children with lead poisoning had doubled since 2013, and tripled in some neighbourhoods. In children, lead poisoning can result in lasting problems with growth and development and can affect behaviour, hearing, and learning. For adults, lead poisoning can damage the brain and nervous system, the stomach, and the kidneys and lead to various other health problems. On October 16, 2015, the City switched back to water from Detroit but it will take some time for the distribution system to become safe again as corrosion exposed leaded pipes that until 2013 had been protected by a layer of calcium carbonate. At the beginning of 2016, Governor Snyder declared a state of emergency, sending state police door-to-door to deliver supplies to residents and opening several sites for water and filter pickup (Barry-Jester 2016). The US federal government has also coordinated a multi-agency response aimed to help state and local leaders to identify the size and scope of the problem and to develop a short-and long-term mitigation plan for the health effects associated with lead exposure (US EPA 2016).
Despite the access to water infrastructure in North America, there are some areas of the region in which safe and reliable sources of drinking water are threatened. These include rural communities dependent on shallow aquifers that are increasingly contaminated by nitrates, water supplies threatened by harmful algal blooms (e.g. Toledo, Ohio), some of US tribal communities and Canadian indigenous communities (Daley et al. 2015), and communities dependent on aging infrastructure, including lead-based piping (e.g.,
Flint, Michigan; see Box 2.4.3). According to the US Indian Health Service, less than 1 per cent of the population in the US is without access to safe drinking water, while more than 12 per cent of American Indians and Alaska Native homes are without access to safe water (O’Connor 2015b).
In the US water systems are monitored for a wide variety of contaminants; each regulated contaminant has a calculated maximum contaminant level (MCL). Overall, there are
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