For about four years the water supply in Flint, Michigan has been dirty and contaminated with lead. The contamination is so heavy, it exceeds EPA levels. Water comes out of local fountains and showers in various “dirty” colors, like gray or muddy brown. There has been talk that the government will step in, but no great action to clean the water has been taken.
Several protests have been led pertaining to the want for clean water. This of course, should be common sense. Clean water is not a “want” or a privilege; it is a necessity. People nationwide have been recently voicing their opinions on how wrong this is that no large action immediate action has been or is being taken. There have been donations, but no head way has been made.
It is important for influential people to speak up and try to help. It is also important to elect officials into the government who will be quick to jump in and get the ball rolling on resolving this crisis. Though in the meantime Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, is taking matters into his own hands.
Elon Musk has always been well know. Recently he has been in the news for essentially saving the lives of twelve children and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Thailand. They were saved with the help of small “submarine” that Elon Musk developed with a company he founded calling Boring Company. He was aided in this rescue by several SpaceX engineers that constructed the device that saved the boys and girls.
So along with his recent life-saving charitable acts, he pledges to fund remediation work on Flint houses that have a contaminated water supply. This could very well be music to the ears of Flint locals, who have been living in horrible conditions for years.
Since his participation plan is only a few days old, nothing is set in stone. As of now, Musk is asking victims of contaminated water sources to tweet him their PPM and PPB test results and he will send someone out to install a water filter in their home. Test results need to prove to have contamination levels above the recommended limits. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets limit guidelines on environmental pollution exposure.
The state of Michigan has been supplying water filters to residents, but the problem is nowhere near being resolved completely; it is just a baby step. Musk tweeted about having a “barnstorming weekend” for installing water filters all across Flint. However, many houses do already have water filters. This is especially important for the children of Flint who may be suffering from developmental delays due to exposure from lead.
In addition to his want to provide clean water filters to affected residents, Elon has been supporting a program that gives bikes and drinking water to Flints youth.
