Flint residents should get a notice in their mail this week telling them there is still a problem with their tap water.
However, city officials hope this will be the last time they have to mail out that notice.
It was last year when tests started showing higher than acceptable levels of Total Trihalomethanes in Flint’s water supply. TTHM is a by-product of chlorine. City workers used a large amount of chlorine to kill E. coli bacteria in the system last summer.
TTHM levels have declined since last year. But tests conducted in May show the overall average remains above acceptable limits.
But city officials are optimistic.
“This is hopefully this last notice the city will be sending out,” says Natasha Henderson, Flint’s city administrator.
The city is installing 12 new filters. The filters should help deal with the problem.
The next round of testing is scheduled for next month.
City officials insist Flint’s tap water is safe and of good quality.
The city is fighting a lawsuit filed by a coalition of Flint pastors and other groups hoping to force the city back to getting its tap water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
The city switched from DWSD to the Flint River last year, in preparation to eventually hook up to a new water pipeline from Lake Huron.
Construction of the KWA pipeline is expected to be complete sometime next year.