Flint Water Crisis: What Have We Learned about Water Lines?

The crisis in Flint, Michigan, has caught the nation’s attention for several months now. The idea of lead poisoning an entire community’s water supply is horrifying. No parent wants their children exposed to toxic water. The disaster has made people nervous of the plumbing system, with many looking for a safeguard against such a problem.

Understanding the Problem

While the reasons behind the crisis are complex, to say the least, here is a simple gist of it. Last year, the city of Flint switched their water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River.

However, they made a mistake and forgot to add the important chemical of orthophosphate. This chemical ensures that the pipes in the water system do not corrode as a result of the water and are standard protocol all across the United States.

What makes this problem all the more horrifying is that the pipes in Flint were made of lead. When the pipes corroded, the lead dissolved into the water and exposed thousands of people, including children, to the hazardous and irreversible effects of this poisonous substance.

Although one can hold the local government, as well as the state government, responsible for what is happening in the city, it is nevertheless important to acknowledge that lead is a risky substance and should never have been used to transport something as important as water in the first place. In fact, the level of leads found in pipes is so high that the local General Motors plant stopped using it because it would damage their engines.

Pipe Material

Aside from lead, there are many other materials used to manufacture water pipes. It is important to be aware of how some of these materials have their own host of problems. Copper pipes, just like lead pipes, are subject to corrosion if the water flowing through them is not properly treated to suit it. The last quarter of the 20^th Century also saw the introduction of Polybutylene Pipes. They were eventually phased out because it was discovered too late that chlorine, present in all municipal water supplies, reacts with it and makes it brittle. Yet, many homes and communities across the country still have piping made of these substances installed.

These pipes should be avoided because even if they are compatible with the municipal supply today, one never knows when the water source changes and it is not compliant with the chemical requirements of copper pipes. After all, not a single Flint resident expected to have such a disaster befall them just because of a simple cost cutting measure.

What can You do?

A simple thing that individual homeowners can do is to contact the most reliable plumber in their area and ask them to do an inspection of your house. They will be qualified to determine whether the materials used to make the pipes leading to your house are safe. A real safeguard that homeowners can set up against a poisonous municipal water supply is a filtration system that cleans out any toxic elements from the water. While such a system may not be able to filter particularly dangerous substances, like lead, they should be capable to clean out most other contaminants.

Your 1 Plumber is respected as one of the leading plumbers in the state of Maryland. We offer excellent services to the locals and have discount coupons available for water line repair service and replacement. We also retail state of the art filtration systems.

If you are looking for a plumber in Frederick MD, Columbia, Silver Spring, or in any one of the many towns we serve, book an appointment with us to start building up your house’s defenses.