Four years after Flint’s water crisis began, the stratospherically high levels of lead in local drinking water have dropped.
As residents fight to make the Michigan government bring back free bottled water until the pipes are fully replaced, one activist is also helping lead an effort for others across the country to test their own water, and to change the law that made Flint’s crisis possible.
Walters had been told that the brown water at her house was an isolated issue, but started attending city council meetings and realized she was not alone.
“And we realized that it was not specific to our home.” When the city tested the family’s water, it said that lead levels were at 104 parts per billion, the highest that the city had ever seen.
While lead levels have fallen, most lead pipes have not been replaced, and–as in other cities with old lead pipes–that means that some homes still have elevated levels of lead.
Even in homes where the water may now be safe, and where the government has also handed out filters that can remove lead, most people are still using bottled water.
Even when cities aren’t experiencing the extreme levels of lead in the water that happened in Flint, lead pipes can still leach lead into water.
Walters is still fighting for Flint.
One problem is that cities often don’t have good data about which homes have lead pipes.
For those who still have lead pipes, Edwards says it’s wise to use filters.