Stewart Ave., West Court Street Church of God at 2920 W. Officials said it is also important that filters are properly installed and that replacement cartridges are changed regularly.įlint residents interested in getting filters, cartridges or help in installing them can contact 2-1-1 in Flint or visit the following locations - the Genesee County Land Bank at 2320 Pierson St., Antioch Missionary Baptist Church at 1083 E. However, Lurie, as well as EPA and CDC officials, cautioned that Flint residents continue to use filtered or bottled water for drinking, cooking or brushing their teeth until lead levels - which have been declining - are found to be safe. "By using filters, they also are helping to move more water through the system, which independent experts say is necessary to continue improving water quality," Snyder added, underscoring officials' encouragement to residents to flush taps as a way to move chlorine through Flint's water system and help aging pipes form a protective coating of phosphates to keep lead from leaching out of them. "People using filtered water instead of bottled water can relieve a significant burden on themselves because they don’t have to deal with transporting and storing it."
Rick Snyder said in response to Thursday's announcement. “I drank filtered water from Flint for over a month. President Obama drank filtered Flint water and encouraged others to do so," Gov. In mid-January, President Barack Obama issued an emergency declaration for Flint where lead levels rose significantly after the city switched water supplies in 2014 and the state failed to require corrosion controls which could have kept lead from leaching from old service pipes. Officials said state, federal and local officials have distributed more than 124,000 water filters and more than 270,000 filter cartridges in Flint since the crisis began. Department of Health and Human Services, who has led federal support efforts for the Flint crisis response. Nicole Lurie, assistant secretary for preparedness and response for the U.S. “With the results of this testing, residents can be confident that they can use filtered water and protect their developing fetus or young child from lead,” said Dr. Federal law requires steps to reduce lead in systems where more than 10% of homes sampled have lead levels of 15 ppb or higher. Thursday's report - in which more than 200 homes were sampled using certified filters, as well as another 50 where high lead levels could be suspected - found that nearly all the samples came back well below 1 ppb, with 90% of them under 0.5 ppb and 80% below detection for lead. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began evaluating filters to determine whether they could perform above their rating of removing lead levels of up to 150 parts per billion, after levels higher than that were found in some of the hardest hit homes. Chris Kelenske, deputy state director of emergency management and homeland security.Įarly this year, officials with the U.S. "We want all Flint water system customers to have access to safe and clean drinking water - the fastest way to achieve that is to make sure everyone is taking advantage of the filters and replacement cartridges being provided by the state," said Capt.