The Truth About Flint Michigan: A Clean Water Crisis

The Flint, Michigan water crisis was a big deal—and while it was all over the news, there's a lot the media didn't share. What really happened in Flint, and why was the science being ignored? In this episode of SciShow, Hank Green shows us a look into the chemistry of what went wrong in Flint.

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Sources:

Lead pipes

Corrosion Protection

Chloride & Chlorine

Legionnaires

Protocols

Lead Poisoning

Conclusion

Images:

[calebshonk]

I've lived in Michigan all my life and I used to live near Flint several years ago. It's commonly known that the Flint river is polluted as hell. I was stunned when I heard they were switching their water supply to it.

In retrospect, it was probably a good thing I lost my job and had to move out of the city. Otherwise, my family and young son would likely have been exposed to the water.

[ericsacks]

Whoever did this still needs to be held responsible for what they've done to the water. Seriously. If Flint were a restaurant they'd be shut down and fined, but when it's the State nobody is held accountable. Very sad.

[rdreese]

Thank you for covering this. Flint's water is still not drinkable.

[romainetomatoes]

I’m a chemical technology student, and we did ICP spectroscopy on some water from flint, and there was a CRAZY amount of lead in it.

[Gogoford]

Thanks Hank! I'm the old guy that asked for this a few years back. Imagine my surprise when I saw it! Youalls rock!

[jvcolddayinhell]

As someone who holds an EPA license for both wastewater and potable water treatment, I thank you for making this video. I can't express my disappointment of a few bad apples and what they've done to all the lives they were supposed to be protecting and providing safe and clean water.

[enand]

In thirty years there is gonna be a miniseries called “Flint” from HBO.

[PBNrandom]

It's astounding how no one has been arrested for causing this Flint water debacle.

[brandibigelow]

I live in Flint, MI and we still have not had our pipes fixed.

[ness]

The state government of Michigan refuses to help the people of Flint. Jordan Chariton of Status Coup went there and discovered that state officials told residents to run the water for a few minutes before doing lead testing, as well as in some cases where officials went into resident’s homes and ran the water themselves and then tested it. Before testing, you’re supposed to let the water sit for at least 6 hours, and running the water for even 30 seconds would ruin the test results. So yea, that’s highly illegal, and the residents of Flint are still being poisoned.

[LivingInTragedy]

Isn’t it crazy how flint just tried to save a little bit of money, it the terrible outcome is gonna require a LOT more money to fix it.

[ebook]

"Protocols matter, y'all" Moral of the story here.

[moonfay]

Thank you thank you for doing this episode. Very thorough and appreciated. Flint's water crisis has gone on 4, almost 5 years too long.

[CptPatch]

I really like how much more nuance there is in this presentation than in what I've heard about the crisis. People tend to talk about the issue in terms of "There's lead pipes lol".

[wolfmobile]

The real crime was that those responsible for the mess and deception never went to jail.

[Summer-xein]

Great video. Thanks Scishow for calling people out and giving a great example of how destructive and deadly ignorance and stupidity plays within our species and our behaviours. This is a great example of showing how our behaviours possess consequences and effect other people. Truly unfortunate to have this happen, but, I am glad to see at the end that the city is taking responsibility by replacing all lead pipes in the city.. no matter the expense.. since expense is not relevant since human lives are worthy and priceless.

[chuckydickens]

Love how The correct abbreviation for Lead Parts per Billion, is PbppB

[Vininn]

1:35 that's where the word Plumbing comes from! Plumbus (pb) is latin for lead, and from that plumbing. Yay etymology

[robertschlesinger]

This video provides an excellent overview of the science that lead (no pun intended) to the Flint Water Crisis. The chemistry involved is a bit complicated, and the video does a great job of clarifying the vicious cycles resulting from these chemical reactions. I taught college chemistry for some years, and these type of matters were a great motivation for students to see the importance of understanding the complexity of a system.

[Monetshimmons]

That is the most straight up answer I have ever received about the water in my hometown, thank you