Safe Water Engineering and Planet Detroit have launched a first-of-its-kind map showing every Michigan water system’s lead service line inventory and replacement progress.

From Lead Contamination to Rising Rates, Southeast Michigan Faces a Critical Need

Article reprinted with permission from SBN Detroit

A decade ago, about 100,000 Flint residents were exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water. The Flint water crisis has become a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of negligence and allowing pipe materials that have been banned since 1988 to fester in our water systems. 

If this catastrophe had a bright side, it’s that it led to the revision of Michigan's Lead and Copper Rule in 2018, the nation's most protective regulation aimed at reducing lead exposure in drinking water. 

Most Michigan water utilities that have lead service lines are required to collect Lead and Copper samples every year between June 1 and September 30. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) starts posting data here when they find water utilities that exceed the lead action level (15 ppb) at the end of each sampling period.