It’s World Water Day, it’s 2017, and Flint Still Doesn’t Have Clean Water
Since 1993, March 22nd has been World Water Day, as declared by the United Nations General Assembly.
On Wednesday, March 15th, Mr. Trump met with the Mayor of Flint, Michigan Karen Weaver to discuss solutions for the water crisis.
What water crisis?
I’m glad you asked, because for two years now Flint, MI has been allowed to live off water from the Flint River — which is infamous for its level of filth. Before, the city of Flint’s water supply was a Great Lake, Lake Huron. Due to the corrosive nature of the water from the Flint River, when the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality failed to treat the water, it ate into the city’s lead and iron pipes, causing lead to mix into the drinking water.
Now Flint’s drinking water has looked like this since 2015
Although progress has been made since Flint first made headlines in 2015, citizens are still living with the lingering repercussions of the corrosive nature of the Flint River tainting their water supplies. Some of the fallout that has occurred includes Legionnaires’ disease, a type of pneumonia caused by legionella bacteria. Symptoms of this disease are not obvious or noticeable, and it takes a medical diagnosis to know you have this disease; it has led to several deaths in Flint, MI since the beginning of the water crisis.
I felt compelled to write about the Flint water crisis because the issue seems to have been swept under the rug somewhat and is no longer making headlines; but Flint still does not have clean water.
The new headlines that have gained popularity? Canadian Town Sorry for Pink Tap Water, a situation in which residents of Onoway, Alberta were surprised with fluorescent pink water when they turned on their sink water. The residents’ issue was not that their water was tainted with something unknown to them (it was potassium permanganate, a common water-treatment chemical that is used to remove iron and hydrogen sulfide from water). They were shocked and “ annoyed they were not told why the water was fluorescent pink until Tuesday morning,” when the incident occurred a day prior.
But wait… There’s better news!
On Friday, March 17th, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $100M grant to the city of Flint, Michigan for water infrastructure work. Mayor Weaver said in a statement that this grant will help the city reach their goal of replacing 6,000 pipes within the year.
Happy World Water Day. Don’t forget to always explore your resources, there are always ways to get involved!
RESOURCES: GET INVOLVED
- Donate to UNICEF to help vulnerable children get access to clean water.
- Learn more about World Water Day
