Jurisam/iStock/Thinkstock
Contractormag 2881 Faucet2
Contractormag 2881 Faucet2
Contractormag 2881 Faucet2
Contractormag 2881 Faucet2
Contractormag 2881 Faucet2

We take water seriously

Feb. 10, 2016
Bringing in truckloads of bottled water is necessary, but what about next week? I’ve heard reports that some of the lead levels are so high that filtration isn’t enough What really needs to happen is that Flint must be connected to Lake Huron water via the Detroit water system

Everybody in this industry lives and breathes the idea that the plumber protects the health of the nation, which is what makes what’s going on in Flint, Michigan, all the more troubling. One of the best takes on the situation was written by my friend John Mesenbrink on Mechanical-Hub.com (http://bit.ly/1QGxw86), where John noted, “I recall sitting in an association’s seminar last year listening to the presenter talk about the potential perils of the city of Flint, Michigan’s, water system. How, in effect, it was poisoning a community. Yet more than a fair share of PowerPoint slides were memes and jokes about why not to live in Flint. To me, not so funny.”

John went on to say that many of the reactions to the crisis in Flint have been window-dressing, feel-good public relations stunts. I agree. Bringing in truckloads of bottled water is necessary, but what about next week? Replacing faucets is a nice gesture, but installing point-of-entry or point-of-use water filtration is better. I’ve heard reports that some of the lead levels are so high that filtration isn’t enough. Reverse osmosis would be required.

In another example of late-closing-of-the-barn-door, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is proposing $30 million in state funding to help Flint residents pay their water bills. Well, duh! They paid for a product that can’t be used. A GM plant rejected it because it was ruining car parts. To make the circus more entertaining, the Snyder-appointed emergency manager that had been running Flint, Darnell Earley, rejected a Congressional subpoena, causing Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) to say he wanted U.S. Marshalls to hunt Earley down.

What really needs to happen is that Flint must be connected to Lake Huron water via the Detroit water system. The water must be treated with orthophosphate to coat the inside of the pipes. That’s a temporary solution since orthophosphate is acidic. If too much of it gets into surface waters, it can over-stimulate the growth of plankton and aquatic plants and, in a worst-case scenario, cause blooms of cyanobacteria.

The city must embark on a long-term project to replace its lead service lines.

The city must embark on a long-term project to replace its lead service lines. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is calling for immediate replacement of the city’s lead service lines, the Washington Post reported http://wapo.st/1PhWIiF using a trenchless technique pioneered in the City of Lansing. Lansing has replaced 13,500 lead service lines at a cost of $42 million over the past 11 years. Randy Hannan, chief of staff to Lansing Mayor Virgil Bernero, told the Post that 30 crews could replace 15,000 pipes in a year at a cost of $2,000-$3,000 per home. The money could come from a combination of water bills, and federal and state money. Officially, the State of Michigan says it has $386 million in its rainy day fund, although I’ve seen reports that it’s closer to $500 million.

My buddy Mesenbrink wondered in his blog, “could the lack of expedient attention to this matter be because Flint is predominantly black and poor?” In one of my rants about dumping the contents of coal ash ponds into the rivers supplying drinking water in Appalachia (http://bit.ly/1drnq9e), I wrote in March 2014, “Those people are just poor white trash so I guess it doesn’t matter now, does it?” It’s the disenfranchised. You can pull stuff like this on people without lawyers.

Everybody in the plumbing industry knows what needs to be done, as do the folks at the Water Quality Association and the American Water Works Association. Poisoning our drinking water is not ok, whether it’s in Charleston, West Virginia, or Flint, Michigan. It’s time for real solutions.

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Contractor, create an account today!