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[Music]

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Chain of events, cause and effect. We

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analyse what went right, and what went wrong,

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as we discover that many outcomes can be

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predicted, planned for, and even prevented.

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I'm John Chidgey and this is Causality.

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Causality is part of The Engineered

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Network. To support our shows including

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this one, head over to our Patreon page

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and for other great shows visit

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https://engineered.network/ today. Flint

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Michigan. Some people described what's

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happened and is still happening with the

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water supply in Flint, as being a case of

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the first world country with a third

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world water supply. It's a bit harsh, but

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the fact is we all need water. Before we

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get into exactly what happened at Flint

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and as I say what is still happening,

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I need to start a little bit about the

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importance of water. I've worked on

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numerous Water Treatment Plants

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and dams, fresh water pipelines in my

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career, and if there's one thing I've

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learned is that you have to take it

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seriously: very seriously!

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Clean, fresh, safe drinking water is the

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cornerstone of life and in order for our

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basic needs to be met, in order to

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survive as an animal we require oxygen,

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water and food in that order of

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importance. With oxygen, without it our

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brains will suffer permanent damage

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within minutes and we'll die within an

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hour or so without oxygen. Water's next. We

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die without water after three days on

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average although some have been shown to

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survive up to 12 days without water but

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that's pretty unusual. That's water

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deprivation of course but, bad water can

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cause all sorts of illnesses and may not

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kill you as quickly, but it can still

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kill you. For water, we can survive but

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without food we can go for about three

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weeks on average provided we have water

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and obviously those with more "storage" if

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you'd like

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will last longer than those without and

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of course local conditions will affect

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the end result. Assuming that someone

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doesn't come along

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to the planet and suck up all the air

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then it all starts with water. Now in my

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observation people have become

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accustomed to having it: it's always

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there, it's always clean and it's safe to

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drink, and most people in Western culture

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haven't walked miles to the nearest well

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and then brought that water home or even

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pushed and pulled a lever up and down to

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pump water out of a well, or ever owned a

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rainwater tank. Water just comes out of

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the tap (or faucet depending what country

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you live in)

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and when I was a kid bottled water

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wasn't even a thing. Now town

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planners knew that running water from

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the tap was a critical part of our

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society 100 if not hundreds, maybe

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even thousands of years ago, they built

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water towers to maintain water pressure,

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they built dams to store rainwater. They

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built barrages across flowing rivers to

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separate tidal flows. Built Water

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Treatment Plants to ensure the water was

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safe to drink and built huge, enormous

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networks of pipework under the ground

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into people's homes to ensure they had

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fresh water to drink, clean and wash with.

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The people that we put in charge of our

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drinking water supplies take it very

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seriously. They have done for many years

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and they will for years to come, but in

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many ways it's become a commodity. One

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that's being traded and bargained for

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despite the fact that is technically an

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essential service that we all require.

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It's being outsourced: the dollar costs

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are getting driven down all the time, and

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when you're in management the need to

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cut down those costs to get the cheapest

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bidder in to run the treatment plant or

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whatever it might be,

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well that pressure can lead to

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compromises. Sometimes there are

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different water sources that you can

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choose from, some cases not, but not all

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sources are created equally. Some will

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come from aquifers of varying degrees of

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quality, others from dams, others from

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rivers, and each will have their own

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unique water quality profile.

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Some will require more treatment than

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others and some require long pipelines

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to bring them to where the waters

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actually needed to be used and all of

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this will affect the final cost. The cost

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of the water and a cheaper source

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upfront may not always be cheaper in the

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end once you've treated it, but in the

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search for cutting costs, they cut

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corners and ultimately in the case of

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Flint they cut one corner too many and

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things started to go wrong. So let's talk

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specifically about Flint Michigan. Now

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for many years the water supply was

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sourced from the Detroit Water and

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Sewage Department but they were

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considered to be too expensive and the

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city was in tough times and looking for

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alternatives that were cheaper. On April

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the 16th, 2013, the city decided to sign

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up with the Karegnondi Water Authority

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(KWA for short) and they decided it would

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be cheaper to build a pipeline from Lake

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Huron to Flint to source their water

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from there. The proposal and

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recommendation came from the

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infrastructure development director

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Howard Croft and the Utilities

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Administrator Daugherty Johnson III.

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It was signed off by the then

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emergency manager Ed Kurtz. The

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pipeline was due for completion during

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2016 (this year). However the agreement

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with Detroit water was up for renewal at

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that point. Now Detroit offered a

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short-term contract to see them through

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until the pipeline was ready but the

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cost was considered to be too high and

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the Flint officials decided that a

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temporary water source would be used

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instead and that water source that they

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chose was to be the Flint River. The

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water source for Flint was switched in

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March of 2014. Some customers in Flint

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could tell the difference immediately

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with the taste and the NDS (that's Non-

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Dissolved Solids), as well as the odour

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being very different from the Detroit

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water. And it was on the 8th of September,

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2014

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that Flint city officials advised their

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customers to begin boiling their water

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after several cases of Escherichia-coli

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surfaced in the community. Of note also

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on the 13th of October,

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General Motors issued a notice to stop

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using the water supply from the council

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because it was corroding steel

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components in their manufacturing plant.

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Further testing of the water quality

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within a few weeks of that

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determined that there were dangerous

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levels of Tri-Halo-Methanes (TTHM for

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short) present in the water and these

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are, they're a by-product of over-

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chlorination. In January of 2015,

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news leaked from Virginia Tech

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University, in their studies they

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detected unsafe levels of lead in the water

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samples they'd taken on campus. It was

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initially thought to be an isolated case

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however Virginia Tech continued to

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investigate, irrespective. On the 10th

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of February, 2015

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Veolia Water were engaged to

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independently assess the situation.

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Veolia run multiple Water Treatment

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Facilities around the world (including

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some here) On the 18th of March, 2015 they

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delivered their report recommending

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$3M USD be invested with

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improvements to the Water Treatment

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Facility. There was no mention of lead

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levels at that time. By September the

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same Virginia Tech team that had earlier

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in the year reported lead detected at

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their campus, had sampled water now from

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252 individual premises and they

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found that the city's 90th percentile

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lead level was in fact 25ppb

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and this exceeded the 15ppb

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EPA action threshold. On the

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15th of September, 2015 these figures

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were officially released to the public

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and there was somewhat of an outcry.

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Further tests over subsequent weeks

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found that several end customer premises

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had lead levels 3 times that legal

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limit.

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On the 2nd of October, 2015 it was

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officially acknowledged

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and an action plan was released to

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address the problem by Flint officials.

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For the blood testing of the children

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from Flint showed levels of 2.5%

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before the switch, rising to 6.3%

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approximately one year after the switch

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of water supply. Three major schools were

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some of the highest lead level areas

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that were measured in Flint. One school

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tested at 6 times the legal limit. On

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the 16th of October, 2015

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Flint officials switched the water back

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to Detroit water, and on the 10th of November,

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2015 the United States Environmental

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Protection Agency became officially

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involved. On the 14th of December that

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year, a state of emergency was declared

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in Flint, Michigan. At this point in time

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it seems like a very crazy idea, that a

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country like America, with so many people,

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access to all the technology that they

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could ever want, could have something

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like this happen. It's an interesting

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chain of events that led us to the

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lead poisoning, and to where we are today.

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And understanding exactly where it went

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wrong, need to explain a few things first.

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I guess whenever I've

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looked into this, I had to ask where was

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the Chemist? Where were the Engineers? The

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corrosion specialists? See Corrosion

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Control Plans (or CCPs) they're standard

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pretty much for all Water Treatment

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systems I've ever seen, that I've ever

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worked on and frankly not just in

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Australia but around the world including

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America but Flint didn't have one. Now

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I'd suggest maybe they didn't think they

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needed one since their water when they

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were sourcing it from Detroit at least,

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didn't have any adverse effect on the

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reticulation system. I'm not sure, it

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seems bizarre to me that they wouldn't

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have one. Certainly in the end lead was

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the biggest problem but like I said it

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was like, Flint's issues like

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pulling a thread and all the actions and

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reactions created the next set of actions

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and reactions and the worst problem of

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all, end up being the lead but, where did

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it go wrong? So the EPA's lead and copper

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rules require water utilities serving

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more than 50,000 people to

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establish a plan to monitor and control

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corrosion. Now that, in my opinion is even that

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number is ridiculous there should be a

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CCP for any sized water reticulation

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system, not just 50,000. The excuse given

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by the Flint officials was that they'd

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mistakenly suggested they were set up

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for a city of 50,000 not 100,000

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which was the actual population

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of Flint, in a statement on the 10th of

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October, 2015

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that was when Howard Croft resigned. To

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me that's such a ridiculous cop-out I

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can't get my head around it. Anyway

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irrespective of that, how do we protect

272
00:12:09,465 --> 00:12:12,708
pipes from corrosion, in non-

273
00:12:12,708 --> 00:12:16,044
Flint reticulation systems? Well, what

274
00:12:16,044 --> 00:12:19,107
I've typically seen used is ORP which is

275
00:12:19,107 --> 00:12:21,871
an abbreviation for Orthophosphate.

276
00:12:21,871 --> 00:12:23,764
We add Orthophosphate

277
00:12:23,764 --> 00:12:28,028
at the Water Treatment Plant and

278
00:12:28,028 --> 00:12:29,951
plants I've worked on, and it's used as a

279
00:12:29,951 --> 00:12:32,836
corrosion inhibitor. Now since Detroit

280
00:12:32,836 --> 00:12:35,448
had been adding that for years into the

281
00:12:35,448 --> 00:12:37,101
water supply and then pumping that out

282
00:12:37,101 --> 00:12:40,434
to Flint for nearly 50 years, their own

283
00:12:40,434 --> 00:12:42,868
Water Treatment Plant didn't have any ORP

284
00:12:42,868 --> 00:12:44,701
dosing system installed. Well they didn't

285
00:12:44,701 --> 00:12:46,432
need it...until they switched!

286
00:12:46,432 --> 00:12:49,446
Now the ORP, how it works is it creates a

287
00:12:49,446 --> 00:12:52,120
thin film and they call it a Passivation

288
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,702
Layer and it chemically insulates the

289
00:12:54,702 --> 00:12:57,947
pipe wall from the chlorine disinfectant.

290
00:12:57,947 --> 00:13:00,019
I know it's not technically an

291
00:13:00,019 --> 00:13:00,591
insulator...

292
00:13:00,591 --> 00:13:02,332
I'm an Electrical Engineer so I prefer

293
00:13:02,332 --> 00:13:03,654
to think of things like an insulator

294
00:13:03,654 --> 00:13:06,568
okay, but it's a protective layer: think

295
00:13:06,568 --> 00:13:08,881
of it like that. It separates the

296
00:13:08,881 --> 00:13:11,885
Chlorine that would otherwise react with

297
00:13:11,885 --> 00:13:14,288
the metal, be it Iron, Lead or Copper

298
00:13:14,288 --> 00:13:17,202
inner walls of the pipes. Now many

299
00:13:17,202 --> 00:13:18,404
countries around the world still have

300
00:13:18,404 --> 00:13:20,417
Lead pipes in use today and millions of

301
00:13:20,417 --> 00:13:22,208
people aren't dying from lead poisoning.

302
00:13:22,208 --> 00:13:25,823
So it can't be that simple. The thing

303
00:13:25,823 --> 00:13:28,857
with ORP is it's always under attack

304
00:13:28,857 --> 00:13:31,740
just from particulate erosion. So

305
00:13:31,740 --> 00:13:34,475
suspended particles not dissolved solids

306
00:13:34,475 --> 00:13:36,488
but suspended particles, as the water

307
00:13:36,488 --> 00:13:38,740
travels through the pipe. Kind of like a

308
00:13:38,740 --> 00:13:40,812
very gentle sandblasting and an

309
00:13:40,812 --> 00:13:44,147
erosive effect. So we keep

310
00:13:44,147 --> 00:13:45,620
dosing it to ensure there's a healthy

311
00:13:45,620 --> 00:13:48,413
protection layer, but it's not just

312
00:13:48,413 --> 00:13:50,184
particulate erosion, the chemistry of the

313
00:13:50,184 --> 00:13:51,868
water will deteriorate it as well and

314
00:13:51,868 --> 00:13:53,337
without any Phosphate at all in the

315
00:13:53,337 --> 00:13:55,743
water, the passivation layer is ever so

316
00:13:55,743 --> 00:13:58,866
gradually eroded as time passes. The

317
00:13:58,866 --> 00:14:00,639
water from the river in addition to that

318
00:14:00,639 --> 00:14:04,844
was a more acidic pH, than the water from

319
00:14:04,844 --> 00:14:07,126
Detroit, and rather than correcting it, it

320
00:14:07,126 --> 00:14:09,409
was allowed into the reticulation system

321
00:14:09,409 --> 00:14:11,903
which further dissolved the protective

322
00:14:11,903 --> 00:14:15,508
layer slowly released the pipes' metal

323
00:14:15,508 --> 00:14:19,894
back into the water supply. Quick lesson

324
00:14:19,894 --> 00:14:22,177
on pH: pH of 1 is highly acidic and

325
00:14:22,177 --> 00:14:24,639
14 is highly basic. 7 is what

326
00:14:24,639 --> 00:14:27,192
we refer to as a neutral solution. In

327
00:14:27,192 --> 00:14:29,565
water treatment we always keep the pH a

328
00:14:29,565 --> 00:14:31,938
minimum buffer amount on the basic side

329
00:14:31,938 --> 00:14:35,302
of neutral. 7.5 to 8.5 pH is typical

330
00:14:35,302 --> 00:14:38,307
enough. The amount of Acid Lime dosing in

331
00:14:38,307 --> 00:14:40,500
place for pH correction is relative to

332
00:14:40,500 --> 00:14:43,202
the water source and the cost to dose in

333
00:14:43,202 --> 00:14:46,327
order to trim the pH. We dose with 1

334
00:14:46,327 --> 00:14:48,701
chemical to treat one problem it will

335
00:14:48,701 --> 00:14:51,374
affect the pH usually, so we'll

336
00:14:51,374 --> 00:14:53,567
trim with another chemical to bring the

337
00:14:53,567 --> 00:14:56,870
pH back again. Now when Flint switched

338
00:14:56,870 --> 00:14:59,514
from Detroit's water it went from about

339
00:14:59,514 --> 00:15:03,177
8 (a pH of 8) in December of 2014, and

340
00:15:03,177 --> 00:15:06,964
it slid down to about 7.3 by the August

341
00:15:06,964 --> 00:15:11,318
of 2015 and that's very odd because they

342
00:15:11,318 --> 00:15:13,182
should have been trimming that pH to a

343
00:15:13,182 --> 00:15:15,975
set point. They should have a target

344
00:15:15,975 --> 00:15:17,746
value either fixed rate flow-paced

345
00:15:17,746 --> 00:15:19,698
however they want a dose, but

346
00:15:19,698 --> 00:15:20,841
irrespective they should have had some

347
00:15:20,841 --> 00:15:23,785
kind of a target, but it says to me that

348
00:15:23,785 --> 00:15:26,249
either they weren't trying to trim it or

349
00:15:26,249 --> 00:15:28,259
they didn't think it was a problem or it

350
00:15:28,259 --> 00:15:30,063
was a fixed rate dose or they weren't

351
00:15:30,063 --> 00:15:32,317
paying much attention. I guess that's

352
00:15:32,317 --> 00:15:33,879
probably worse, if they weren't paying

353
00:15:33,879 --> 00:15:35,099
attention.

354
00:15:35,099 --> 00:15:37,874
Irrespective it was not controlled by

355
00:15:37,874 --> 00:15:40,726
any stretch the imagination.

356
00:15:40,726 --> 00:15:43,370
Now Chlorine concentration is another

357
00:15:43,370 --> 00:15:44,991
one that's worth considering as

358
00:15:44,991 --> 00:15:48,988
well. The Detroits' waters' average

359
00:15:48,988 --> 00:15:52,682
Chlorination (or Chlorine concentration I

360
00:15:52,682 --> 00:15:54,754
should say) was 11.4ppm,

361
00:15:54,754 --> 00:15:57,308
that was in 2014 as it

362
00:15:57,308 --> 00:15:59,171
arrived at the plant, however in August

363
00:15:59,171 --> 00:16:01,995
of 2015, it was measured in Flint at

364
00:16:01,995 --> 00:16:04,096
85ppm and it's no

365
00:16:04,096 --> 00:16:06,791
wonder it smelled. Rather strong

366
00:16:06,791 --> 00:16:09,985
concentration of chlorine. Now that

367
00:16:09,985 --> 00:16:11,697
occurs to me that it was probably an

368
00:16:11,697 --> 00:16:14,070
overcorrection and that was a reaction

369
00:16:14,070 --> 00:16:16,322
to the e-coli contamination problem from

370
00:16:16,322 --> 00:16:20,138
mid-2014. So what they did is they

371
00:16:20,138 --> 00:16:22,181
increase their dosage of Ferric Chloride

372
00:16:22,181 --> 00:16:24,793
which is a coagulant for organic

373
00:16:24,793 --> 00:16:26,986
particulates and that makes them

374
00:16:26,986 --> 00:16:29,590
flocculate and makes them easier to remove,

375
00:16:29,590 --> 00:16:31,702
but this increased the Chloride

376
00:16:31,702 --> 00:16:35,447
concentration as a direct result.

377
00:16:35,447 --> 00:16:38,572
Flocculation's simply a process whereby

378
00:16:38,572 --> 00:16:41,885
smaller suspended solids will clump

379
00:16:41,885 --> 00:16:43,778
together and group allowing them to be

380
00:16:43,778 --> 00:16:46,240
more easily filtered out by sand filters

381
00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,936
or different kinds of filters. So as you

382
00:16:49,936 --> 00:16:52,399
add more Ferric Chloride you then need

383
00:16:52,399 --> 00:16:55,102
to trim something else, so you one thing,

384
00:16:55,102 --> 00:16:57,355
you need to trim another. The water

385
00:16:57,355 --> 00:16:59,158
chemistry, it's not as straightforward as

386
00:16:59,158 --> 00:17:02,042
you'd like it to be. Now multiple studies

387
00:17:02,042 --> 00:17:04,204
showed that the corrosive rates of Lead

388
00:17:04,204 --> 00:17:07,419
increase when Chloride:Sulfide ratio is

389
00:17:07,419 --> 00:17:11,193
greater than 0.58. Now to compare

390
00:17:11,193 --> 00:17:14,627
Detroit's water had a ratio of 0.45

391
00:17:14,627 --> 00:17:17,632
which was less than that, but the Flint

392
00:17:17,632 --> 00:17:20,816
River treated water, at its worst was

393
00:17:20,816 --> 00:17:23,849
measured at 1.6. That ratio: 1.6

394
00:17:23,849 --> 00:17:27,663
more: nearly 3 times as much. Not just

395
00:17:27,663 --> 00:17:30,488
a bit worse...a lot worse! The worst part

396
00:17:30,488 --> 00:17:31,750
of it for me though is that the first

397
00:17:31,750 --> 00:17:33,342
sign of trouble was there was

398
00:17:33,342 --> 00:17:36,226
discolouration of the water in mid-2014,

399
00:17:36,226 --> 00:17:39,230
only a few months after they switched to

400
00:17:39,230 --> 00:17:40,790
the river water source.

401
00:17:40,790 --> 00:17:43,644
Now that was caused by the breakdown the

402
00:17:43,644 --> 00:17:45,175
passivation layer that we previously

403
00:17:45,175 --> 00:17:48,240
discussed, and that discoloration was

404
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,253
actually caused by rust: the Iron pipes

405
00:17:50,253 --> 00:17:52,355
were the first ones to show damage, and

406
00:17:52,355 --> 00:17:54,388
that was that rust colouration.

407
00:17:54,388 --> 00:17:56,461
That should have been the first

408
00:17:56,461 --> 00:17:59,005
sign that something was seriously wrong.

409
00:17:59,005 --> 00:18:00,906
The thing that a lot of people don't

410
00:18:00,906 --> 00:18:03,160
realize about Chlorine though, is that

411
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,113
Chlorine is essential to protecting us

412
00:18:05,113 --> 00:18:07,935
from bacteria and there's only a very,

413
00:18:07,935 --> 00:18:10,128
very small number of bacteria and

414
00:18:10,128 --> 00:18:11,961
viruses in existence that can survive

415
00:18:11,961 --> 00:18:14,515
when dosed with Chlorine, which is why

416
00:18:14,515 --> 00:18:16,497
it's used for water disinfection. It's

417
00:18:16,497 --> 00:18:19,171
very effective. Chlorine concentration

418
00:18:19,171 --> 00:18:22,505
though, it deteriorates over time, they

419
00:18:22,505 --> 00:18:24,307
call it the Chlorine Residual as in

420
00:18:24,307 --> 00:18:27,310
residual level, and you can't stop it, and

421
00:18:27,310 --> 00:18:29,954
we measure Free Chlorine levels in water,

422
00:18:29,954 --> 00:18:30,846
post-treatment to ensure that the

423
00:18:30,846 --> 00:18:32,648
minimum is retained at the outlet of the

424
00:18:34,069 --> 00:18:35,872
Water Treatment Plant so that by the

425
00:18:35,872 --> 00:18:38,394
time it reaches your place, it's traveled

426
00:18:38,394 --> 00:18:39,477
through the pipelines,

427
00:18:39,477 --> 00:18:43,442
reservoirs, towers, it has to be a minimum

428
00:18:43,442 --> 00:18:45,785
Chlorine Residual presence at the

429
00:18:45,785 --> 00:18:47,948
delivery point, and when I say "delivery point"

430
00:18:47,948 --> 00:18:49,779
I mean the tap (or the faucet) whatever you

431
00:18:49,779 --> 00:18:52,333
want to call it. So we want that Chlorine to

432
00:18:52,333 --> 00:18:54,256
be in the water because if it isn't, it

433
00:18:54,256 --> 00:18:55,877
can't kill the bacteria that it could

434
00:18:55,877 --> 00:18:57,710
pick up along the way as it passes

435
00:18:57,710 --> 00:18:59,241
through the whole reticulation network

436
00:18:59,241 --> 00:19:02,036
on its way to your door and to the point

437
00:19:02,036 --> 00:19:06,121
of delivery. Problem was, once the

438
00:19:06,121 --> 00:19:08,433
passivation layer had eroded, the

439
00:19:08,433 --> 00:19:11,798
Chlorine Residual in the lines, it began

440
00:19:11,798 --> 00:19:14,261
to react with the metal directly:

441
00:19:14,261 --> 00:19:16,213
specifically the Iron in this case, and

442
00:19:16,213 --> 00:19:19,939
that reaction, started to consume a lot

443
00:19:19,939 --> 00:19:22,281
of the Chlorine that was in the solution.

444
00:19:22,281 --> 00:19:24,595
And I say the solution: I mean the water

445
00:19:24,595 --> 00:19:28,619
of course, and that meant that the e-coli

446
00:19:28,619 --> 00:19:31,743
bacteria could grow, leading to people

447
00:19:31,743 --> 00:19:33,425
getting sick because the Chlorine that

448
00:19:33,425 --> 00:19:35,048
was supposed to kill it off and keep it

449
00:19:35,048 --> 00:19:37,510
at bay had been consumed by a chemical

450
00:19:37,510 --> 00:19:39,874
reaction with the Iron in the pipe

451
00:19:39,874 --> 00:19:42,607
because there was no passivation layer.

452
00:19:42,607 --> 00:19:46,553
So what did the Flint officials do at

453
00:19:46,553 --> 00:19:48,414
the Water Treatment Facility to fight

454
00:19:48,414 --> 00:19:51,598
that? They added more Chlorine! So that

455
00:19:51,598 --> 00:19:54,002
then accelerated that reaction with the

456
00:19:54,002 --> 00:19:57,006
Iron and the Lead and that released more

457
00:19:57,006 --> 00:20:00,730
into the water system. So we know Lead is

458
00:20:00,730 --> 00:20:02,173
nasty stuff.

459
00:20:02,173 --> 00:20:04,786
"Something, something, Roman reference,"

460
00:20:04,786 --> 00:20:07,159
right? I mean the debate goes on if there

461
00:20:07,159 --> 00:20:07,960
was actual

462
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,865
a cause of illness in Roman times, but we

463
00:20:11,865 --> 00:20:13,817
well know the effects of lead poisoning

464
00:20:13,817 --> 00:20:16,791
from modern medicine. Some of the symptoms

465
00:20:16,791 --> 00:20:19,464
include partial or full blindness. Can

466
00:20:19,464 --> 00:20:21,057
cause hallucinations and hearing loss.

467
00:20:21,057 --> 00:20:23,549
Slurred speech, kidney failure which

468
00:20:23,549 --> 00:20:26,153
leads to dialysis. Insomnia, depression,

469
00:20:26,153 --> 00:20:28,856
short-term memory loss, infertility.

470
00:20:28,856 --> 00:20:31,119
Tingling pains in the fingers and toes,

471
00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,854
constant fatigue, the list goes on and on.

472
00:20:33,854 --> 00:20:36,406
It's actually pretty terrible. But the

473
00:20:36,406 --> 00:20:37,868
effect of Lead on children in particular,

474
00:20:37,868 --> 00:20:40,551
it's horrible. Because it leads to

475
00:20:40,551 --> 00:20:43,486
learning difficulties, permanent life-long

476
00:20:43,486 --> 00:20:47,520
disabilities. Now we don't use Lead pipes

477
00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:50,885
anymore, but in 1990 the American Water

478
00:20:50,885 --> 00:20:52,718
Works Association estimated that there

479
00:20:52,718 --> 00:20:54,460
were millions of Lead service lines in

480
00:20:54,460 --> 00:20:56,893
the United States alone. The obvious

481
00:20:56,893 --> 00:20:59,717
question is: why do we use metal pipes at

482
00:20:59,717 --> 00:21:02,420
all? They're cheap, they're easy at work,

483
00:21:02,420 --> 00:21:04,913
they last a long, long time

484
00:21:04,913 --> 00:21:07,826
basically. Polymer pipes (or Poly-pipes

485
00:21:07,826 --> 00:21:09,750
for short) they're great, but they're a

486
00:21:09,750 --> 00:21:11,761
relatively new thing and they don't have

487
00:21:11,761 --> 00:21:14,796
the same longevity. Retrofitting pipe-

488
00:21:14,796 --> 00:21:16,628
work with non-metallic pipes is normally

489
00:21:16,628 --> 00:21:18,882
done on a failure/replacement basis,

490
00:21:18,882 --> 00:21:20,383
because replacing all of that

491
00:21:20,383 --> 00:21:22,365
infrastructure would bankrupt most local

492
00:21:22,365 --> 00:21:24,167
governments. It always comes back to

493
00:21:24,167 --> 00:21:27,201
money. Always. So even now they're back on

494
00:21:27,201 --> 00:21:30,115
Detroit water. It could take many, many

495
00:21:30,115 --> 00:21:32,189
years to re-passivate or re-line the

496
00:21:32,189 --> 00:21:33,480
pipes, however you want to think about it,

497
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:35,853
and as this is being recorded some

498
00:21:35,853 --> 00:21:37,955
locations in Flint are still seeing

499
00:21:37,955 --> 00:21:39,698
unacceptable levels of Lead in their

500
00:21:39,698 --> 00:21:42,672
water at the delivery point. I wonder

501
00:21:42,672 --> 00:21:44,775
also though, just how rigorous water

502
00:21:44,775 --> 00:21:46,517
testing is in other parts of the country

503
00:21:46,517 --> 00:21:48,378
and the world for that matter as a

504
00:21:48,378 --> 00:21:50,932
direct result of this incident? You can

505
00:21:50,932 --> 00:21:53,455
never, ever take your eye off the ball

506
00:21:53,455 --> 00:21:56,068
not for a second. So what actually went

507
00:21:56,068 --> 00:21:58,172
wrong here besides the chemistry of the

508
00:21:58,172 --> 00:22:01,056
water? Who we really is to blame, and what

509
00:22:01,056 --> 00:22:02,968
are we learn from this? Well I suppose,

510
00:22:02,968 --> 00:22:05,351
don't use metal pipes wherever you can

511
00:22:05,351 --> 00:22:08,776
and especially not Lead! Got it. But

512
00:22:08,776 --> 00:22:11,088
honestly the problem I guess I have is

513
00:22:11,088 --> 00:22:13,731
well, where were the Engineers? The

514
00:22:13,731 --> 00:22:15,473
Chemists and the Biologists in all of

515
00:22:15,473 --> 00:22:17,576
this, at the Flint Water Treatment Plant?

516
00:22:17,576 --> 00:22:21,332
I spent a decade in water and wastewater

517
00:22:21,332 --> 00:22:23,734
and periodic sampling at treatment

518
00:22:23,734 --> 00:22:25,686
plants, that happens daily, weekly, monthly

519
00:22:25,686 --> 00:22:29,561
and at reservoirs. There are key sample

520
00:22:29,561 --> 00:22:32,115
points in the network: customer premises,

521
00:22:32,115 --> 00:22:35,660
you name it they test it! Originally

522
00:22:35,660 --> 00:22:37,071
every plant I worked at had its own

523
00:22:37,071 --> 00:22:38,814
laboratory, and they would test

524
00:22:38,814 --> 00:22:40,076
their own water samples from their own

525
00:22:40,076 --> 00:22:41,718
local reticulation network and

526
00:22:41,718 --> 00:22:44,701
reservoirs and in one plant we had a

527
00:22:44,701 --> 00:22:46,384
SCADA client in the corner of the lab

528
00:22:46,384 --> 00:22:47,705
and I remember the sound of the

529
00:22:47,705 --> 00:22:49,238
centrifuge spinning up and down as they

530
00:22:49,238 --> 00:22:52,541
ran tests on that water. They've centralized

531
00:22:52,541 --> 00:22:54,223
them now so they could afford better

532
00:22:54,223 --> 00:22:56,386
test equipment, and they've cut the

533
00:22:56,386 --> 00:22:57,647
number of Chemists on the payroll I'm

534
00:22:57,647 --> 00:23:00,771
sure, but hopefully not too few. But to

535
00:23:00,771 --> 00:23:02,805
not understand something like corrosion

536
00:23:02,805 --> 00:23:06,690
that's fundamental. Absolutely

537
00:23:06,690 --> 00:23:09,544
fundamental. To switch water sources are

538
00:23:09,544 --> 00:23:12,067
not to understand the balance the water

539
00:23:12,067 --> 00:23:14,108
needs to have in its chemistry in order

540
00:23:14,108 --> 00:23:16,241
not to destroy your pipe-work

541
00:23:16,241 --> 00:23:18,915
infrastructure that you need to deliver

542
00:23:18,915 --> 00:23:20,807
your water to your customers is frankly,

543
00:23:20,807 --> 00:23:22,941
it's ridiculous. It's criminal.

544
00:23:22,941 --> 00:23:25,403
You're entrusted not just with taking

545
00:23:25,403 --> 00:23:28,737
care of an asset. That pipe in the ground

546
00:23:28,737 --> 00:23:33,183
is an expensive asset and beyond that

547
00:23:33,183 --> 00:23:36,548
the entire city's population depends on

548
00:23:36,548 --> 00:23:39,131
that to survive. Their health, their

549
00:23:39,131 --> 00:23:42,905
well-being. And in an effort to save money

550
00:23:42,905 --> 00:23:46,009
it's cost an immeasurable amount more

551
00:23:46,009 --> 00:23:49,404
than that in the long run. Let's not even

552
00:23:49,404 --> 00:23:51,086
think about the lawsuits and the class

553
00:23:51,086 --> 00:23:53,099
actions that's gonna cost them dearly

554
00:23:53,099 --> 00:23:55,291
in months and years to come, but beyond

555
00:23:55,291 --> 00:23:58,115
the money, it comes back to supervision

556
00:23:58,115 --> 00:24:00,268
and putting the right people in charge.

557
00:24:00,268 --> 00:24:03,132
There are people that blame Kurtz, Croft

558
00:24:03,132 --> 00:24:06,376
and Johnson in varying degrees. There are

559
00:24:06,376 --> 00:24:08,750
others as well that are implicated, but

560
00:24:08,750 --> 00:24:10,491
with so much of that still under wraps

561
00:24:10,491 --> 00:24:12,835
and being closely guarded it's difficult

562
00:24:12,835 --> 00:24:15,176
to know at least today for sure who was

563
00:24:15,176 --> 00:24:16,980
pushing for the river water solution

564
00:24:16,980 --> 00:24:18,903
maybe we'll never know. Maybe there's

565
00:24:18,903 --> 00:24:21,035
enough hands in the ring that we won't

566
00:24:21,035 --> 00:24:23,678
be able to single out any one individual.

567
00:24:23,678 --> 00:24:25,872
But in the end I suppose to me it

568
00:24:25,872 --> 00:24:27,344
doesn't matter so much as about the

569
00:24:27,344 --> 00:24:28,867
individual but it's clear though to me

570
00:24:28,867 --> 00:24:30,052
that the people that were entrusted to

571
00:24:30,055 --> 00:24:31,955
run the Flint Water Treatment Plant and

572
00:24:31,973 --> 00:24:34,005
the water quality testing, weren't qualified

573
00:24:34,005 --> 00:24:37,497
to do so and if they tried to fix the

574
00:24:37,497 --> 00:24:39,746
dosing issues at the plant there's been

575
00:24:39,746 --> 00:24:41,348
no evidence presented that I can find

576
00:24:41,348 --> 00:24:44,985
that they ever even tried. The wrong

577
00:24:44,985 --> 00:24:49,622
people were running the system. Clearly

578
00:24:49,622 --> 00:24:50,965
they weren't supervised by the right

579
00:24:50,965 --> 00:24:53,617
people either the wrong people were put

580
00:24:53,617 --> 00:24:56,178
in charge and it didn't take very long

581
00:24:56,178 --> 00:24:59,624
at all for everything to completely fall

582
00:24:59,624 --> 00:25:02,903
apart. If you're enjoying Causality and

583
00:25:02,903 --> 00:25:04,986
want to support the show you can, like

584
00:25:04,986 --> 00:25:07,295
one of our backers, Chris Stone. He and

585
00:25:07,295 --> 00:25:09,191
many others are Patrons of the show via

586
00:25:09,191 --> 00:25:10,856
Patreon and you can find it at

587
00:25:10,856 --> 00:25:14,319
https://patreon.com/johnchidgey Don't

588
00:25:14,319 --> 00:25:17,563
forget if you're enjoying Causality you

589
00:25:17,563 --> 00:25:19,395
may enjoy other shows on The Engineered

590
00:25:19,395 --> 00:25:22,830
Network such as Neutrium, Pragmatic and a

591
00:25:22,830 --> 00:25:25,647
new show, Analytical. Be sure to check

592
00:25:25,647 --> 00:25:27,663
them out too.

593
00:25:27,663 --> 00:25:30,482
This was Causality. I'm John Chidgey.

594
00:25:30,482 --> 00:25:33,628
Thanks for listening.

595
00:25:33,628 --> 00:26:46,728
[Music]