It is all over the news about how Flint Michigan's water is contaminated. I don't know many details about the problem, but I have a few ideas.
It seems that for years, Flint had been getting its water from Detroit and Detroit had been getting their water out of the Great Lakes. Now, I do know something about the Great Lakes. There are very few rivers running into the great lakes, most of the water actually falls directly on the lakes. In the case of the Lake Superior, 90% of its water falls directly out of the sky. This means that there is very little chance of contamination by water flowing thru or over the land. As a result, the upper Great Lakes have some of the purest water in the world. As the water flows down from Lake Superior, it gradually picks up contamination by way of river flowing into the lakes. Lake Eire is a good example of this, being the last lake in the chain. Now to Flint's problem.
No mater how pure the water is in the Great Lakes, it does have some contamination. The key thing about contamination is that it is most likely to fall out of suspension when the water comes in contact to another surface, like a rock or a pipe or there is a change in Ph. It is all based on percentages. Out in the lake, 99% of the water is just in contact with "water", but when the water is taken out of the lakes things change. Now, most of the water is in contact with concrete, pumps and pipes. In the process, the water is changed in other ways, like adding chlorine. Contaminates like Mercury that was in suspension now can start to precipitate out. Remember that Flint purchased their water from Detroit for a very long time and during that time, over many years, things like Mercury built up on pipes, concrete and anything else that it came in contact with. Some did get thru, but it was a very small amount. Now, this is where it gets interesting.
When the city of Flint switched to river water from the Flint River, the water was "different" from that in the Great Lakes. It still tested good to drink, but it was different. My guess is that the Ph was below 7.0 and more like 5.5 or 6.0. This would make it more on the acid side than the water that had been coming from Detroit. It would be much like water with detergent in it. This new water would start desolving the contaminates that had been building up over all those years in the water pipes and water system of Flint. Are you starting to see where this is going?
In defense of the people who changed from Detroit water to the water from the Flint River, they did all the normal tests on the water and found it good to drink. What they did not realize was that there was a buildup of contaminates in the Flint water system that would be released by this new and different water. In hind sight it looks clear to me that this must be what happened. Now, what is the solution?
Flint can make the problem "worse" for a while and clean out their water system or they can change the chemistry of the water from the Flint River. My guess is that they would have to do exactly what farmers have been doing for years. Put "Lime" in the water to cancel out the acid. By doing this, the contaminates that have built up in the Flint water system would remain stuck to the pipes and not be released into the drinking water. I think that if they tried to flush out the Flint water system that they would open up more problems by passing the contaminates down stream in a "surge", plus more high acid water that was used for the flushing.
We know that the ancient Romans had a water problem due to the use of Lead pipes, so this is not new. Drinking wine out of Silver goblets is another example of getting toxic metals into one's system.
It will be interesting exactly how this all "flushes" out, but I think that my ideas are on the right track.
PS---In my town, the city flushes the drinking water system once a year and sends out a report on the water quality to each household. I think that any standard water softener would take out any metal such a Mercury. Why do you think it is that we have not heard anything about water softeners? Read the labels on the bags of water softener salt in you grocery store. Notice that it helps to remove metals like "iron" as well as the "metals" that cause hard water. Remember that Lead and Mercury are also "metals".
PS---Do you think the fact that the mayor of Flint and most of the city counsel are Black has anything to do with their water problem?
It seems that for years, Flint had been getting its water from Detroit and Detroit had been getting their water out of the Great Lakes. Now, I do know something about the Great Lakes. There are very few rivers running into the great lakes, most of the water actually falls directly on the lakes. In the case of the Lake Superior, 90% of its water falls directly out of the sky. This means that there is very little chance of contamination by water flowing thru or over the land. As a result, the upper Great Lakes have some of the purest water in the world. As the water flows down from Lake Superior, it gradually picks up contamination by way of river flowing into the lakes. Lake Eire is a good example of this, being the last lake in the chain. Now to Flint's problem.
No mater how pure the water is in the Great Lakes, it does have some contamination. The key thing about contamination is that it is most likely to fall out of suspension when the water comes in contact to another surface, like a rock or a pipe or there is a change in Ph. It is all based on percentages. Out in the lake, 99% of the water is just in contact with "water", but when the water is taken out of the lakes things change. Now, most of the water is in contact with concrete, pumps and pipes. In the process, the water is changed in other ways, like adding chlorine. Contaminates like Mercury that was in suspension now can start to precipitate out. Remember that Flint purchased their water from Detroit for a very long time and during that time, over many years, things like Mercury built up on pipes, concrete and anything else that it came in contact with. Some did get thru, but it was a very small amount. Now, this is where it gets interesting.
When the city of Flint switched to river water from the Flint River, the water was "different" from that in the Great Lakes. It still tested good to drink, but it was different. My guess is that the Ph was below 7.0 and more like 5.5 or 6.0. This would make it more on the acid side than the water that had been coming from Detroit. It would be much like water with detergent in it. This new water would start desolving the contaminates that had been building up over all those years in the water pipes and water system of Flint. Are you starting to see where this is going?
In defense of the people who changed from Detroit water to the water from the Flint River, they did all the normal tests on the water and found it good to drink. What they did not realize was that there was a buildup of contaminates in the Flint water system that would be released by this new and different water. In hind sight it looks clear to me that this must be what happened. Now, what is the solution?
Flint can make the problem "worse" for a while and clean out their water system or they can change the chemistry of the water from the Flint River. My guess is that they would have to do exactly what farmers have been doing for years. Put "Lime" in the water to cancel out the acid. By doing this, the contaminates that have built up in the Flint water system would remain stuck to the pipes and not be released into the drinking water. I think that if they tried to flush out the Flint water system that they would open up more problems by passing the contaminates down stream in a "surge", plus more high acid water that was used for the flushing.
We know that the ancient Romans had a water problem due to the use of Lead pipes, so this is not new. Drinking wine out of Silver goblets is another example of getting toxic metals into one's system.
It will be interesting exactly how this all "flushes" out, but I think that my ideas are on the right track.
PS---In my town, the city flushes the drinking water system once a year and sends out a report on the water quality to each household. I think that any standard water softener would take out any metal such a Mercury. Why do you think it is that we have not heard anything about water softeners? Read the labels on the bags of water softener salt in you grocery store. Notice that it helps to remove metals like "iron" as well as the "metals" that cause hard water. Remember that Lead and Mercury are also "metals".
PS---Do you think the fact that the mayor of Flint and most of the city counsel are Black has anything to do with their water problem?
