FLINT CRISIS: PROTECTIVE COATING BUILD UP IN WATER LINES SOUNDS LIKE FICTION SCIENCE.

The water has been poisoned in Flint for two years. Bathing and showering remains unsafe and deep concerns remain regarding the drinking water. I now fear, as do many others, that the water crisis in Flint is being forgotten by the media and people living outside of the Flint area.

A few months ago information was sent out that the correct chemicals were finally added to the Flint River water at the treatment plant in Flint. In January governor Snyder said that the State first intends to make the pipes safe by re-building a protective coating between the lead and the water. Snyder said that the State restored corrosion controls to the water system. Those were the phosphates that were missing from the water between April, 2014, and October, 2015. At a press conference in January Snyder said, "Over time, the phosphates will build up a protective coating between the pipes and the water they carry making them capable of delivering safe drinking water."

Frankly, this makes no sense to me. I'm no water treatment expert but I don't buy this protective coating idea. I also know that I am not the only one who has serious doubts about the protective coating theory. I recently spoke to Flint resident and long time friend Johanna Atwood Brown about her thoughts on the water crisis. Johanna told me that the Mayors pipe replacement effort has stalled in Flint.She and her husband took it upon themselves to have the water lines replaced in their home and hired a company.They got pipes with a double filter which she said doesn't take all of the lead out, but some. Johanna also stated, "Then we have the faucet filter, but it will be a long time before I drink the water again."

Appallingly, Johanna and her husband had to spend $3,600, which they pulled from their retirement fund. "We are glad we had the cash to do it. Lots of people do not. They are dependent on the coating that I'm sure no one feels safe about." Yes, this protective coating concept sounds like fiction science to me.

Jeff Brown
Editor/Publisher
Purple Walrus Press