Flint Michigan

Tink

Tink

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2015
Messages
657
Reaction score
348
Location
Bacliff Texas
The City of Flint is in effect a Superfund site. If it were in a third world country, the UN would be there helping. The lead in the water supply was there for over a year so every citizen has been impacted. It is on the clothes they are wearing from laundering. As I watch this story unfold layer by layer I am simply astounded. This is as I last looked 2016. I'm with those seeking criminal consequences for those involved but more than that, every citizen needs relocated immediately and that does not appear to be happening.
 
I thought the last time lead was used as pipes was in the middle ages. I couldn't believe they used them as residential supply lines. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the problem started when the water source was temporarily changes to a local river (more acidic) while maintenance was performed on the regular supply line.
 
Financial manager approved a change from the Detroit city water system to a local source as a way to cut costs. Detroit treats its water to prevent the old pipes from leaching its lead into the supply the new and cheaper source does not, go figure...
 
There's a few head scratching things happening here with this issue. I am absolutely behind criminal charges for every level of government that knew about it. The people of flint didn't want this, the idea was proposed by local government then pushed through by the emergency manager Governor Smeckle put in place. I can't put into words how this makes me feel! Luckily I have well water and live outside of the city but share a city zip code with Flint. My grandmother and several cousins not to mention friends do reside in the city. Strangely enough , City hall was broken into. The same office that had documents regarding the water switch had a tv stolen....mmmm. This pisses me off to no end!
 
Btw thanks for noticing tink. It's a lot like being gutted! This place has been stomped on and forgotten about since the efn General packed up and moved to efn Mexico and China. I could go on infinitely on how disappointing the demise of my city has been to watch.
 
Don't be fooled everybody, if you live in a city that the infrastructure could be considered "old" then there's lead in your pipes. It's a matter of keeping it under control, this could have happened almost anywhere.
 
I think the levels of lead in Flint could be considered extreme, exceeding the national average.
 
Don't be fooled by what Matt? The biggest problem doesn't lie with lead in the pipes! It lies in the fact that our local and state governments have been telling us that the water is fine for over a year now. Now that there is proof of high lead levels in our children everybody is putting on there shocked face and rushing to help Flint. This shouldn't have happened!!!!
 
furyus 67 said:
Don't be fooled by what Matt? The biggest problem doesn't lie with lead in the pipes! It lies in the fact that our local and state governments have been telling us that the water is fine for over a year now. Now that there is proof of high lead levels in our children everybody is putting on there shocked face and rushing to help Flint. This shouldn't have happened!!!!
Click to expand...
You're right and I'm not downplaying the seriousness of what has happened, it's horrific. What I'm saying is that there's a strong likelihood that the ingredients for this situation are scattered across Americas aging infrastructure and with the same cast of characters following the same script, it could happen anywhere.
 
detmatt said:
You're right and I'm not downplaying the seriousness of what has happened, it's horrific. What I'm saying is that there's a strong likelihood that the ingredients for this situation are scattered across Americas aging infrastructure and with the same cast of characters following the same script, it could happen anywhere.
Click to expand...
You Couldn't be more right Matt. Most of these industrial cities like Detroit,Flint Saginaw and many others in our area have a crumbling infrastructure. I can drive down any street of these cities and see roads in terrible shape, insulation hanging from electrical lines houses in ruin. Is this what they call progress? Breaks my heart as an American.
 
Last edited:
Hey fella's....

I attended Boy's Tech and Trade High School in Milwaukee and majored in Plumbing. We trained in a lot of lead pipe and lead joint which joined cast iron pipe. We constructed lead shower pans that went under showers and bath tubs. After H.S. I worked for Granau Plumbing and did a lot of commercial plumbing. I worked on the First Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee which still is the tallest building in Wisconsin.

Some things you might not be aware of....

Most homes built before 1930 in the U.S. had lead water pipes and lead joints in the waste and vent pipes. Look in your basement if you live in a house that is 1930 or older and I guarantee you that you have lead water pipe service coming in to your house. A lot of houses were converted with copper but still have lead water pipe bringing the water service in to the house. If you look at the waste and vent pipes (probably easiest to see in the attic) and look where two pipes join together with a hub. You'll see that down in the joint it is about a 1" deep lead joint. We pack jute (rope like material) down in that hub until it is about an inch from the top of the hub. Then we pour molten lead to fill the the hub to about an 1/8" below the top of the hub. We than use a special chisel and a hammer to peen the lead against the inside perimeter and outside perimeter which seals against fluid and odor leaks.

lead%20pipe.jpg


Typical picture of a home converted to copper. Notice the lead pipe still bringing the water service in to the house....

Lead_Water_Main023-DJFs.jpg
 
Do you see the big cast iron pipes behind the water pipe? Those have lead joints in every hub!
 
I owe an apology to Matt. I ofter made jokes about Detroit (often failing) when in my mind I was viewing Flint. Because of the recent Flint debacle, I've learned that the perceptions I had about Detroit I was really of Flint.
Damn. And I was good in Geography. Not as good as I thought. Sorry about that, Matt.
They're as different as Miami is to Florida City.


70bigblockdodge said:
The cows would have done a better job.
Click to expand...
Cows would have never allowed Boston's Big Dig, the biggest misuse of public funds in road building history.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

tbm3fan
The green color
2
Replies
20
Views
2K
cm23uoc
cm23uoc
Back
Top