The people of Flint, Michigan, have been using contaminated water since 2014, and it seems there is major progress being made to finally help the residents there. 

One-hundred and twenty million dollars has been used to fund the crisis according to ABC News, and Flint is finally on its way back to becoming a clean city.

Back in 2014 Flint decided to change the water supply from the Detroit system to the Flint River to save money.  Before the switch of the systems, there were improper checks for the pipes the new system would be using. This led to dirty water being run into residents’ homes. 

Complaints began to pile up from residents but were ignored by government officials. According to NRDC.org, many complaints of “foul-smelling, discolored, and off-tasting water piped into Flint homes for 18 months was causing skin rashes, hair loss and itchy skin.”

As thousands of residents began to complain and beg for something to be done, many of the people were experiencing health issues. NRDC.org also stated, “Later studies would reveal that the contaminated water was also contributing to a doubling—and in some cases, tripling—of the incidence of elevated blood lead levels in the city’s children, imperiling the health of its youngest generation.”

Many of the residents of Flint had to resort to using store-bought water jugs and water bottles to do daily tasks like clean, brush their teeth, and bathe themselves. The tap water had high levels of lead, which resulted in the foul taste and yellow color of the water. The people of Flint protested, but their requests of fixing the problem were never being met.

Fast forward to 2020 and the Flint Water Crisis is still ongoing. However major progress has been made to finally fix the contaminated water. “Federal and state funding has helped Flint replace more than 9,700 lead service lines, which carry water from main pipes into homes,” said Kurt Thiede, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to ABC News. 

There are about 500 pipes left, according to ABC, and the city is finally close to ending this chapter of the crisis to bring clean water to the city of Flint.

During this process of cleaning up the water supply, a lawsuit against the state of Michigan was filed by many citizens of Flint. A federal court decision is currently pending for a $641 million settlement for the people of Flint, according to ABC News. 

As 2020 wraps up hopefully the people of Flint can go back to living normally. The water containment project is supposed to be finished within the next few months which would finally put an end to this six-year crisis that has plagued the people of Flint, Michigan.