The environmental and human tragedy of the lead-contaminated Flint water system is awful.
The chemistry, however, is fascinating.
I'll readily admit that I had no idea we still used lead pipes anywhere in modern plumbing (ironically named after lead's Latin name). I thought that lead had been entirely excised from the pipes in - at least - the Western world or the developed world or the whole world.
No, it turns out that there are still lead pipes in our water system, we're just adding corrosion inhibitors called orthophosphates to crate lead (I assume IV) phosphate layers that won't dissolve into the water coming into our homes.
Without those orthophosphates, however, the lead heads right into the water...like it did in Flint, Michigan.
The corrosion then also lowered the chlorine level and allowed new bacteria to thrive in the last pipe leading into the homes and businesses of Flint,
On Friday, officials at the McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint said they found low levels of Legionella bacteria in the hospital’s water supply in 2014. That bacteria may have caused a recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, a severe kind of pneumonia, that sickened 87 people — 10 of whom died — in Genesee County since Flint switched water sources, (source)Corrosion matters, folks.
Read more about the political and human side of the story here.
Big thanks to, as is often the case, Compound Interest for the graphic up there.
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