Photo by Jean Lannen — *Photo by* *Jean Lannen*

About Elin

Elin Warn Betanzo is president and founder of Safe Water Engineering LLC, a small consulting firm working to improve access to safe drinking water through engineering and policy consulting.

Elin is a Professional Engineer registered in Michigan, Maryland and Virginia, and a certified water system operator in Maryland and Michigan. She has over 20 years of experience working on drinking water science, engineering, and policy issues. She worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water writing and implementing national drinking water regulations, for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission where she led water system master planning and hydraulic modeling, and for the Northeast-Midwest Institute leading their Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program.

In August of 2015, Elin played a critical role in uncovering the Flint Water Crisis by encouraging Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a Flint pediatrician, to conduct a study that discovered elevated lead levels in children living in Flint, Michigan. Elin continues to work on lead and drinking water policy at federal, state, and local levels. Projects include working with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to establish their lead service line replacement program, improving public education about lead in drinking water with the University of Michigan, and helping water utilities comply with the federal and state lead and copper rules.