Since April of 2014, residents of Flint, Michigan have become victims to contaminated water. The city of Flint attempted to save 19 million dollars in just over eight years by switching to Flint’s own water source. With this switch, the city began using contaminated water, as opposed to Lake Huron water filtered by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which they had been loyal to for half a century.

Ironically, with a project that started out as a way to make easy money, Flint officials have carelessly created a crisis that will take hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve.

With the introduction of a new source of water came widespread objection. Water that cost impoverished citizens up to $150 monthly, was discolored and smelled and tasted abnormal. While people continued to be dispensed toxic water, they were told not to worry, and that the water being provided was safe to use and drink. Despite ongoing protest for months, lack of reform continually excused residents’ outrage as pointless.

CNN reported that it was not until August of last year that studies about lead in the city’s water were released. With the release of these studies came more concern from Flint residents, and at this time, Flint’s former mayor, Dayne Walling finally supported a connection back to the Lake Huron water filtered by DWSD. However, it was not until September that officials actually cautioned residents not to drink the city’s water. Nonetheless, Flint later reconnected to the Detroit water system.

The most basic needs of human beings are physiological, making clean water absolutely essential to life. Water is important for bodily functions, skin, muscles, and much more. Just as much as clean water can benefit people, contaminated water can hurt people– especially children.

The health of all 9,000 children of Flint was sacrificed for money. Lead poisoning immediately does its harm and appears just years later, causing problems with a child’s brain development. Lead was most prominent when the Flint River was the city’s source of water, but because this water was so corrosive, lead remains in pipes. Therefore, even with initially clean water, lead continues to be present in city water.

Going against federal law, the Department of Environmental Quality failed to put an anti corrosive agent in the river’s water. The use of lead in water systems was banned in 1986, but a majority of Flint homes were built before then. This has facilitated lead leaching into water. The failure to use this agent gives the impression that it would have been extremely costly, but that is not the case.

How much would it have cost to put this agent in the city’s water? Only 100 dollars a day for three months.

However, lead is not the only toxin affecting Flint residents. The Detroit Free Press reported that since the switch, there has been an outbreak Legionnaires disease. At least 87 people have been hospitalized, and at least nine have died.

Using the Flint water is practically inescapable for residents. Whether they drink it, cook in it, shower in it, brush their teeth with it, or wash their clothes in it, adults and children alike continue to be affected by the switch that took place in April.

Desperately in need of clean water, people have turned to water bottles. As a result, an entire community is depositing immense amounts of plastic to the earth every single day. The crisis is not only affecting the current lives of people, but the future of the earth as well.

Due to these extreme cases, Flint officials finally decided to admit to residents that the switch was a disastrous idea; it was certainly not due to genuine concern for the well-being of the people of their city.

MLive reported that with new water in April 2014, General Motors in Michigan struggled to work with such corrosive water. Immediately, they informed the state that they needed cleaner water in order to work successfully, and immediately their needs were met.

Clearly, the only thing that matters to Flint’s government is the money they can get out of exploiting an impoverished community. The government took advantage of a people already vulnerable to poverty. Assuming that these people would not raise their voices, corruption and deceit continued for the city and still continues.

There is no good reason for such dangers to exist in the water of a community in a first world country. The only explanation for the incompetence associated with the Flint water crisis is greed.