Can the Water Issue in Flint Happen in My System? By Delvin DeBoer, Special Projects Engineer, AE2S
received from the City of Detroit, and decided to switch to the Flint River treated water for economic reasons. The Drinking water quality issues in Flint, Michigan have Flint River was to be a temporary water source, since the drawn the attention of national news media. Decisions City of Flint was to obtain Lake Huron raw water from a were made that changed pipeline being constructed by distribution system water the Karegnondi Water Authority, quality, causing increased lead scheduled to be completed in Water quality factors that can affect concentrations at the customer’s late 2016. corrosivity toward iron, lead and copper tap and additional water quality include temperature, pH, disinfectant issues. Articles from news media During the summer of 2014, outlets and information from the customers in some areas of the types and concentrations, the City of Flint web site were used city experienced “rusty” water as concentrations of various anions such to prepare the following general a result of cast iron pipe as chloride, sulfate and bicarbonate, summary of the technical water corrosion. The City of Flint and corrosion inhibitor concentrations. supply story, without delving water supply received total into the underlying political, coliform and E. coli violations in professional or social undertones August and September 2014, and of this account. a total trihalomethane violation in December of 2014. In response, the city moved to decrease water age in the According to the City of Flint 2014 Annual Water Quality distribution system, optimized their ozone treatment Report, in May 2014 the City of Flint began distributing process, and installed granular activated carbon in the Flint River water treated at the Flint water treatment filters at the water treatment plant. facility. Prior to that time, Flint distributed treated water
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SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
