Flint, Michigan Residents Will Stop Receiving Free Bottled Water

Dayana Foster, Editor-In-Chief

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced beginning last Friday residents of Flint will no longer have access to free government-funded water bottles, citing claims that faucet water tests well below lead levels that would require government intervention.

According to the New York Times, non-residents and residents alike expressed discontent with the state’s decision to cease providing clean water to residents.

Citizens of Flint have struggled with high levels of lead – exposure that the CDC said can “affect nearly every system in the body” – in their faucet water since 2014, and despite the mass outrage across the nation, many families still do not have access to clean water.

According to the New York Times, the Michigan government has decided to close all remaining free water distribution centers in the city that have been in operation since January 2016. State officials justified the decision through city-wide lead and copper water quality tests that determined public water lead levels were below the level that requires government intervention.

According to a press release from the office of Gov. Snyder, “nearly two years of LCR data and thousands of other tests show that Flint’s Water is testing the same as or better than similar cities across the state.” The series of water tests in Flint have concluded 94 percent of the samples taken were below the federal action level of 15 parts per billion (PPB).

Despite state studies, residents and city officials in Flint have expressed extreme discontent with the state government’s decision. According to a press release from Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, who was informed of the decision just minutes before it was released to the public, “adequate resources should continue being provided until the problem is fixed and all the lead and galvanized pipes have been replaced.”

Residents will still have access to free water filters, although many residents still rely heavily on bottled water as source for clean drinking and bathing water according to The United Way of Genesee County (UWGC) press release. In light of these events, the UWGC will contribute all of its current and incoming funds to purchase and distribute bottled water to Flint residents.

However, the United Way CEO does not believe they can sustain the same amount of water that was provided by the city.