Why are so many Michigan water systems finding lead? They're looking harder

[TexasTowelie]

Benton Harbor is likely just the beginning.

Since the southwest Michigan community’s prolonged lead-in-water crisis began making national headlines this fall, residents of Hamtramck, Wayne and Manchester have all learned that their water, too, exceeded government lead standards, sparking renewed cries for faster action to eliminate the toxic metal from Michigan’s water systems.

But while residents are newly on-notice about the threat of lead in their water systems, the threat itself is nothing new. It’s just newly known to the public, the result of a rule change that forced water suppliers to start looking harder for the neurotoxin in their water delivery systems starting in 2019.

“Nothing’s really changed but the testing standards,” said Jeff Wallace, village manager for Manchester, where 89 of some 800 households have a lead-containing service line.

The four communities currently in violation of Michigan’s lead-in-water standard are among dozens across the state that have been flagged for high levels of lead since the new rules took effect.

Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/why-are-so-many-michigan-water-systems-finding-lead-theyre-looking

[gab13by13]

1. The whole country,

in older cities and towns, is full of cast iron water pipes. There is a cast iron water pipe feeding my house so I made the decision to drink bottled water. It's ironic because our town has pristine drinking water. Plus the fact the water authority can't find the blowoff pipe below my house to flush my line.

[NewDayOranges]

2. THIS! So much THIS!

I believe that lead-tainted drinking water over the decades has caused the last 2 or 3 generations of Americans to suffer from ADD/ADHD and other learning disorders, cognitive disorders and criminally aggressive behavior.

After COVID, the effects of lead-tainted drinking water on the US populace is the biggest public health problem that ISN'T being talked about...

One of the provisions included im either the infrastructure or Build Back Better packages includes upgrading the pipes used in water supply lines all over the country...