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Lead pipes? I mean, potable water systems where the pipes are actually made out of solid lead metal?

I have never seen ANY plumbing anywhere that has pipe made from actual lead. Solder joints on copper pipe, yes. Caulking on old cast iron DWV pipe, yes.

This is like the arsenic in the groundwater in Michigan. It occurs naturally, nobody put it their. The threshold levels set by the DEQ are ridiculously low. You would have to drink like a million gallons to have any sort of adverse effect.

My house is 100 years old, and the supply lines are lead.

All of my neighbors houses as well, as the lines were laid in the street starting in 1910.

The interior piping is copper with some recent PVC. Some lead solder joints in the copper. But from the meter out to the street it’s all lead (I know because I accidentally snapped off my meter once).

Caulking on old cast iron DWV pipe, yes.

Agreed. Very old cast iron bell and spigot pipes used lead caulking at the joints (or simply lead joints).

In my younger (engineering) days we warned about this issue. This was in many cities and we received incredible pushback from trade organizations and municipal governments. We were also threatened with litigation by both a trade industry group and an eastern city government. We did not retract our work, however it was buried. I remember it well and it was very stressful period of my life.

The problem has been well known for some time and that would go back as far as 1917 when successful experiments were conducted by replacing lead with cement joints.

The problem in Flint became worse when they switched suppliers from Detroit to the Flint River to save money. They did not conduct even a minimal engineering study on the effects to their distribution system. The water was acidic and they turned a potentially bad lead problem into a disaster.

The worst part is they patted themselves on the back for saving a couple of million dollars. A small engineering study under 100K would have revealed the danger of changing water suppliers to the distribution system and the health of the people.

This is a level of incompetence and corruption that is very common in our country.

My questions: Where are the control samples of kids tested before this problem occurred with the river water?

What are the lead levels in PPM vs kids not in Flint.

Are the FDA Allowable limits of lead in blood reasonable and scientifically derived or emotionally?

How did people not die in droves when these pipes were new? I assume the calcification of the pipes took decades to form