FLINT, MI -- The professor whose research helped expose rising levels of lead in drinking water in Flint says it's still not safe to drink without a faucet filter.
Professor Marc Edwards told doctors and others at Hurley Medical Center on Wednesday, Dec. 2, that researchers at Virginia Tech university are continuing to test water samples in Flint, and while lead levels are dropping, they remain above the federal limit for lead in some areas.
"Things are much better, but the water is still not safe to drink. ... For the foreseeable future, you are going to have to continue using filters," Edwards said. "My best estimate is you would be under federal standards in as little as a month from today."
Lead-clearing faucet filters and replacement filters are available, and there is no shortage at this time, according to the United Way of Genesee County. Residents may call 211 for the latest information on the locations for distribution and replacement filter exchanges.
The city ended its use of the Flint River for drinking water in mid-October, but experts have said it would take weeks to clear the remnants of river water out of transmission pipes.
Even after that point, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said, residents still should be warned of the potential risk of increased lead in drinking water when crews do underground work that might dislodge lead scale and sediment in city water pipes.
Edwards' testing during the 17 months the city used river water showed Flint's water was highly corrosive, causing lead to leach from service lines and plumbing inside homes.
The state Department of Environmental Quality since has acknowledged it failed to require Flint to follow federal rules for treating river water to make it less corrosive.
City officials might have missed early warning signs of rising lead levels because they never sought out homes at high risk of elevated lead levels in testing, as they were required to do by federal law.
Edwards' presentation Wednesday focused primarily on another lead-in-water crisis -- in Washington, D.C., where problems started about 15 years before Flint's troubles emerged.
In that case, Edwards said, only a handful of people spoke out about what he called scientific misconduct by government agencies that were supposed to have been protecting public health.
When Washington changed a chemical used to treat its water supply, he said, it caused lead to dissolve in transmission lines at a much faster rate, but agencies, including the local water authority and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, denied the health concern rather than addressing the issue.
"When the reputation of a government agency is in conflict with the truth, something has to give, and it's always the truth," Edwards said.
The professor called what happened in Flint this year -- the change in the city's water source as a result of increasing levels of lead in water -- "a miracle," driven by "a critical mass of moral courage" from citizens and others.
Flint eventually changed to purchasing water from the city of Detroit. That happened despite months when state officials and former Mayor Dayne Walling assured residents that Flint River water was safe to drink. State agencies also initially had questioned the work of Edwards and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who found elevated blood lead levels in Flint children.