Google-funded Flint water app helps residents find lead risk, resources

[FarCenter]

FLINT—A mobile app and website built for the city of Flint is available now to help the community and government agencies manage the ongoing water crisis.

Mywater-Flint, for Android and online at Mywater-flint.com, was developed by computer science researchers at the University of Michigan's Flint and Ann Arbor campuses and funded by Google.org. Through it, residents and city employees can:

- Access a citywide map of where lead has been found in drinking water.

- Discover where service line workers have replaced infrastructure that connects. homes to the water main, and where they're currently working.

- Locate the nearest distribution centers for water and water filters.

- Find step-by-step instructions for water testing.

- Determine the likelihood that the water in a home or another location is contaminated, among other features.

Only about a third of the city's residents have had their water tested, the researchers say.

http://ns.umich.edu/new/multimedia/videos/24394-google-funded-flint-water-app-helps-residents-find-lead-risk-resources

[angrychair]

1. Does this strike anyone as sad?

It has gone on so long and is still such an issue that someone developed an application to help victims manage their situation better. Fucking pathetic.

What does Flint need to do to get this fixed? Get corporate sponsorship? Change its name to Google, Michigan to get some help?

Republican state governments fuck up whole state and city economies and can't manage basic services yet still get elected. It is a strange world we live in.

[FarCenter]

2. AFAIK, they are putting the anti-corrosion chemicals into the water, so the problem will be solved

It takes a while for minerals to deposit on the inside of the lead pipes and the leaching of the lead to stop.

Lots of communities have lead pipes, especially the lines between the street mains and the dwellings, which are the responsibility of the building owners. If the water is treated properly, they are not a problem.

Trying to locate and getting the real estate owners to change out all the lead piping is somewhere between a boondoggle and a fool's errand.