For more than four years the city of Flint, Mich., has been dealing with a water crisis that has lead pipes contaminating running water to commercial and institutional facilities, as well as homes.
To improve the learning environment in the Flint Community School District and make the lead- and bacteria-filled water safe to drink, Elon Musk, Tesla's billionaire CEO, reportedly will pay for new water stations and water filtration for the entire district, according to The Detroit Free Press.
A $480,000 donation from the Musk Foundation will allow Flint schools to install ultraviolet water filtration systems to drinking fountains. District officials say the systems will disinfect lead and bacteria coming from water pipes to the fountains. The systems are expected to be installed all 12 schools and the district’s administration building by the end of January.
Lead leached from old water pipes in buildings after Flint began using water from the Flint River in 2014 without adding corrosion-control chemicals. Flint returned to Detroit’s water system in 2015.
This Quick Read was submitted by Ryan Berlin, managing editor of Facility Maintenance Decisions.
