Not Safe to Drink

If you missed parts 1 or 2 of Not Safe to Drink, you can find them here. Back in September, research scientists from Virginia Tech came to Flint to break some bad news. Their tests showed high levels of lead in people’s tap water. Lead is especially harmful for young children.

What would you do if your tap water turned brown? If it gave your children a rash every time they took a bath? Or worse, what if it made them sick? Listen to our special documentary below, and hear the wild story about how the water in Flint became Not Safe To Drink.

If you missed part one of Not Safe to Drink, you can hear it here. The tap water in Lee Anne Walters’ home in Flint was causing her family’s health problems. Tests show her water had extremely high lead levels. Her son Gavin was diagnosed with lead poisoning. “How does this happen in the United States?” she asks. “I mean, you hear about it in third world countries, but how does this happen, specifically in a state that is surrounded by the Great Lakes?”

Up until October, the Walters family lived in a yellow two-story home on the south side of Flint. A couple of red maple trees shade the tiny front yard. Walters heads to the back of the house, in a small room off of the kitchen, where the family keeps its stockpile of bottled water. “This is our water stash. Once a week we go and we fill 40 gallons of water, so we have water to drink with, to cook with, and to bathe Gavin and Garrett in,” says Lee Anne Walters.