Staff Writer: Arielle Moore
In the last couple of months, there have been some incredibly disturbing images coming out of the city of Flint, Michigan. The orange particle-infested water has been all over the covers of magazines and newspapers. Due to this, there has been one question on people’s minds: Is that water really coming from people’s drains to drink and use?
The answer, unfortunately, is yes. This issue has been a stain on the small city for close to 2 years now, when the decision to use untreated water from the Flint river was made in 2014. As a result, the water corroded the lead pipes of Michigan’s water system and therefore resulted in a toxic concoction flowing from the faucet.
Even now, citizens of Flint are still being taxed one of the highest rates in the United States for their poisonous water which many would agree is an undeniable crime. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver plans to execute her mission to replace the city’s corroded pipes in an attempt to produce clean water sometime next week. In the meantime, many people have contributed their time and resources in order to provide bottles and jugs of clean drinking water to the people suffering.
In a city within the United States you would think the lack of clean water would even be an issue, right? Exactly. You wouldn’t. People would argue that a “first-world country” shouldn’t be dealing with such a thing as this since we have access to the resources and more than enough exports for such necessities. This is true-to an extent. While the change managed to save Flint a considerable amount of money, it came with many harmful effects.
So, is this something we should be worried about in Philadelphia? Even though Flint citizens have visual proof of the contamination in the water, studies show that there is an undeniable amount of lead in our water supply. The reason being our aging pipes and our inability to replace them has had some noticeably dangerous outcomes that have been reflected in the blood tests taken by some Philadelphian citizens. The growing number of infected residents poses great threats to those who have no idea what is really in their water supply. It also causes people to demand stricter regulations on what comes from the tap.
What do you think? Do you think this issue could have been prevented? How should the government handle the situation?
Image source: http://www.dogonews.com/2016/1/20/the-water-crisis-in-flint-michigan
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