DETROIT (AP) — Officials in Michigan declared a public health emergency Thursday over the city of Flint's water, after months of resident complaints about its smell and taste, in response to tests that showed children with elevated levels of lead. 
 
 Mark Valacak, director of the Geneseee County Health Department, issues a public health state of emergency due to the lead in city water during a press conference at the Genesee County Administration... (Associated Press) 
 
 Mark Valacak, director of the Geneseee County Health Department, issues a public health state of emergency due to the lead in city water during a press conference at the Genesee County Administration... (Associated Press) 
 
 Genesee County Commissioner Jamie Curtis speaks during a press conference at the Genesee County Administration Building in Flint, Mich., on Thursday Oct. 1, 2015. (Christian Randolph/The Flint Journal-MLive.com... (Associated Press) 
 
 Senior Minister Nathan Dannison, left, and Deacon Tom Birkhold of the 1st Congregational United Church of Christ help deliver more than 4,000 bottles of water for kids in the Flint School District, Wednesday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 A day after Gov. Rick Snyder said the consequences of using the Flint River for the city's drinking water weren't "fully understood," Genesee County Commissioners recommended that people not use the water unless it first goes through an approved filter at taps. 
 
 A group of doctors called a news conference last week to report high levels of lead in blood samples from children, as the corrosive water is apparently releasing lead from old pipes in homes. It was among the most significant challenges to the quality of Flint water since the city decided last year to stop paying Detroit for its water service. 
 
 Mayor Dayne Walling said Thursday residents should follow the county commission's declaration on using filters certified for lead removal, having water tested and flushing cold water for five minutes before drinking it. 
 
 A coalition of local citizens and national groups petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday to order Michigan and state environmental officials to reconnect Flint to Detroit water. 
 
 "As evidenced by the ongoing poisoning of the children of Flint, it's time for the EPA to take immediate action to provide us with a safe water source," said LeeAnne Walters, a Flint parent and member of the Water You Fighting For group. 
 
 Detroit's water system serves about 4 million people in communities across southeastern Michigan. 
 
 "This department is always willing to explore possibilities that may be beneficial ... for the residents of Flint and the other communities that we serve," William Wolfson of the Detroit Water Department told The Associated Press. 
 
 Flint is among a number of communities that have complained about the rising cost of Detroit's water and sewerage service. City officials estimated the cost of buying water from Detroit at $16 million. They turned off Flint's tap to Detroit water in April 2014 and opted for Flint River water until the city switches to a new pipeline from Lake Huron. The overall annual cost to be part of the Lake Huron system would be $12.5 million. 
 
 The decision to break away from the Detroit system was made while a Snyder-appointed emergency manager was running the long-struggling city, which had reached a financial crisis. 
 
 "In terms of a mistake, what I would say is we found there are probably things that weren't as fully understood when that switch was made," Snyder said Wednesday. 
 
 But residents have been unhappy with the taste and appearance of water from the Flint River. They also have raised health concerns, reporting rashes, hair loss and other problems. A General Motors plant stopped using the water, saying it was rusting its parts. 
 
 Despite the complaints, city officials had said state tests showed the water met federal safety guidelines. 
 
 More concerns surfaced after Virginia Tech researchers posted an online report in early September saying Flint's water is "creating a public health threat" in old homes that have lead pipes or pipes fused with lead solder. 
 
 Flint officials say they know which homes have risky pipes but the information is on about 45,000 index cards and difficult to retrieve. 
 
 The city is now telling residents to use only cold water for drinking, cooking and making baby formula, and recommending they use the certified filters. The General Motors Foundation, the local United Way and others have given at least $105,000 to buy filters for 5,000 residents. 
 
 But Kary Moss, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan — one of the group's filing the petition with the EPA — says the first step has to be removing the Flint River as the city's source of water. ||||| FLINT, MI -- Water from Detroit is flowing into Flint again. 
 
 But it'll be about three weeks before all of the city's pipes are clear of water from the Flint River, city officials said Friday. 
 
 Mayor Dayne Walling announced Friday afternoon the city was reconnecting to Detroit Department of Water and Sewerage as a water source at 5 p.m. 
 
 The city held a press conference on Friday, Oct. 16, at Freeman Elementary to announce the switch would take place that evening. The school is one of three in the Flint School District that tested above 15 parts per billion for lead, the safety standard set by the federal government. 
 
 "When we learned that Flint's drinking water was contributing to high lead levels in Flint, it made me furious and this community was rightly outraged." Walling said. "My immediate reaction to learning from our doctors about high lead levels was to not take no for an answer from the Snyder administration and to insist that they approve and help fund the switch to a safe drinking water source from Detroit." 
 
 Detroit water was to be introduced into the Flint system throughout the evening. It is expected that the thorough replacement from Flint River water to Detroit water will happen after approximately three weeks, according to a news release from the city. Residents in Flint may see discoloration as well as noticing some taste and odor issues during the transition. 
 
 Water provided by DWSD will contain corrosion control agents to hinder the leaching of lead from old pipes into the water. However, the city will also be adding additional corrosion control agents to further minimize the risk presented by lead pipes, according to the release. 
 
 Walling said extraordinary efforts all around made the quick switch possible. 
 
 "The city council approved the $2 million pledge that was necessary from the city of Flint, because we had to take action -- that was approved by the transition advisory board. The Legislature moved quickly. The governor has signed the appropriation. The C.S. Mott Foundation has come forward." Walling said. 
 
 "But I have to tell you that it's the men and women in the water department who have worked tirelessly to get us to this point so quickly. All the work that had to get done with the transmission lines, with the testing, and with the cleaning so that today at 5 p.m. clean water from Detroit will begin flowing back into Flint's system," Walling said. 
 
 House Democratic leader Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) applauded an emergency measure that directed about $9.4 million in state funds to restore clean drinking water to Flint and take steps to help children affected by high lead levels. 
 
 "The actions of the governor's office and the governor-appointed emergency manager for Flint are the direct cause of the Flint water disaster," Greimel said in a statement. "Beyond that, we must hold the Department of Environmental Quality responsible as well. There were so many opportunities to stop this before it started, so many people this had to pass through, before the switch could be made, and not a single person looking at this saw families at risk. They saw dollar signs. Therefore, it's not just appropriate, but morally incumbent, on the state to restore clean water to families in Flint. These families are paying for the bad decisions made by the governor and his appointed administrators. It would be wrong to expect these families to pay extra to fix those mistakes." 
 
 According to a news release from Greimel's office, Under House Bill 4102, a supplement budget bill, the state will appropriate: 
 
 $6 million to connect Flint to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. 
 
 $1 million to test Flint water samples. 
 
 $1 million to purchase and install water filters. 
 
 $850,000 to the childhood lead program. 
 
 $500,000 to support programs. 
 
 Add three positions within the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to help oversee Flint's water system. 
 
 Walling echoed Greimel's sentiment, saying while he appreciated the quick action, the situation should never have happened. 
 
 "I appreciated the Legislature and the state's quick action on the issues when it was brought before them, but this was a crisis that should have never happened in the first place," Walling said. "Gov. Snyder and the emergency managers caused this problem, plain and simple, and we're making sure that they fix it." 
 
 Walling said the money from the state to reconnect to Detroit is just a start. He said he is going to demand tens of millions in additional investments in Flint's infrastructure and for the replacement of lead service lines. 
 
 The precautionary measures, such as water filters, currently being taken by residents should remain in place in the coming months, Walling said. 
 
 "I've also been heartened by the incredible outpouring of support from the entire community. I again want to say thank you," Walling said. "We came together, we provided for the needs of our most vulnerable kids and families, and those precautionary measures need to stay in place in the coming weeks and months. It's going to take time for the Detroit water to move through the system, for our pipes to be healed, for our families and our children who have been affected to be healed." 
 
 The reconnection comes after months of controversy after the city disconnected from Detroit in April 2014 and began drawing its water from the Flint River to save money. 
 
 Residents with questions or concerns about the hydrant flushing in their area can call the Water Service Center at 810-766-7202. Continuing information on water will be provided via the City of Flint's website, cityofflint.com. ||||| Buy Photo Dewayne Forney of Flint looks on while holding his daughter Vanessa Forney as Anjhe' Walker (center) 14 and Estella Walker (left) mix baby formula using bottled water in the parking lot of a restaurant in downtown Flint on Thursday October 1, 2015 for the children Vanessa and Dewayne Forney Jr. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo 
 
 Outside a taco shop on Flint's Fifth Street, Estella Walker balances a gallon jug of water on top of the stroller that holds her 3-month-old son, DeWayne. She's mixing bottles of formula for DeWayne and his 19-month-old sister Vanessa. 
 
 Nadene Strickland sits outside her home on the city's north side, watching her grandsons play basketball. She still drinks the water. She can't afford bottled. 
 
 Shopping at the local farmers market with five of her seven children, Tena Fransioli says she hasn't used tap water in a long time. 
 
 Across town, it's bath night for LeeAnne Walters' kids. She heats bottled water in the microwave and carries it to the bathroom, slowly filling the tub. In Melissa Mays' bathroom, there's a reminder taped to the wall: To brush your teeth, use the bottled water on the bathroom counter. 
 
 This is life in Flint, where you really should not drink the water. 
 
 And no one, not in this country in the year 2015, should have to live this way. 
 
 For more than a year, Flint residents have been screaming that their water wasn't OK, that it smelled bad, tasted bad, looked bad, and was making them sick. 
 
 Few listened. The state told them, again and again, that the water was safe — that contamination had been handled, and that the water was within acceptable levels. 
 
 It wasn't until last week that Gov. Rick Snyder finally acknowledged the profound problems with Flint's water. Lead, from aging water service pipes, is leaching into the water the city pumps from the Flint River, exacerbated by a local treatment plant's failure to add appropriate chemicals. 
 
 But he still won't call it an emergency. 
 
 For decades, the City of Flint bought its water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, water that arrived "finished" — in other words, treated to make it safe for human consumption. In 2013, the city opted to join the Karegnondi Water Authority, along with Lapeer, Genesee and Sanilac counties, and in 2014, to pump water from the Flint River while the new system is under construction. Joining the KWA didn't mandate the end of Flint's relationship with DWSD — Genesee County, for example, has continued to purchase its water from Detroit, albeit at a premium, said county drain commissioner Jeff Wright. 
 
 In Flint, both decisions were made during the appointments of four different emergency managers, turnaround guys brought in by Snyder to fix Flint's budget woes, and with the approval of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which monitors water quality and treatment. 
 
 For most of the last year, the state has told residents that Flint's water was fine, that it met the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The state, for the most part, still says that's true. 
 
 But now the governor's team acknowledges that their data are incomplete, and that high lead levels found in Flint's water — and an increasing number of Flint kids with elevated blood-lead levels — merit action. Snyder is dedicating $1 million to purchase lead filters for Flint residents, has ordered further testing and is improving corrosion control at the Flint water treatment plant, which should help keep lead out of the water. 
 
 Buy Photo (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 Water, water everywhere 
 
 The river was never meant to be a long-term answer to Flint's water needs; it was a short-term fix for a broke city scrambling to save money. When Flint joined the Karegnondi Water Authority, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department terminated its 35-year contract with the city. To continue to purchase Detroit water, Flint would have to renegotiate a short-term contract, at a higher cost. Switching to river water saved Flint between $5 million and $7 million a year, a hefty chunk of cash in a city with few resources, and fewer services left to pare. 
 
 That region had long wanted its own water system, Genesee drain commissioner Wright says. Because of its elevation, and its distance from Detroit, Flint paid a higher rate for Detroit water than most far-flung communities. Only one pipeline stretches that far north, and that means Flint — and the other KWA communities — are vulnerable. In 2000, Wright says, the pipeline went down, leaving 250,000 people without water for four days. It had happened before, and it has happened since. The area needed a second pipeline, but Detroit wouldn't build it without a 30-year commitment from the communities the pipeline would serve. And at the rates DWSD is obliged to charge, the communities were reluctant to make that commitment, Wright said. 
 
 When the KWA is complete next year, Flint will be back on Lake Huron water, same as Detroit. But unless its treatment plant is capable of properly treating the water, its problems will not end. 
 
 Buy Photo (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 Because much of our infrastructure is composed of copper pipes with lead welds, systems like Detroit's add anticorrosive agents to prevent lead from leaching into the water. River water is more difficult to treat than lake water, Wright says; its chemistry can change daily. Because the Flint River is shallow, compared with Lake Huron, its temperature is higher. All of this impacts the composition of the water, and what chemicals are required to make it potable and safe to pass through old pipes. 
 
 When Flint started pumping river water, the local plant either never employed corrosion control, or didn't employ sufficient control. Remarks made Friday by Michigan Department of Environmental Quality chief Dan Wyant didn't make that entirely clear, and Snyder's spokesperson didn't respond to an e-mail seeking clarification by the Free Press' Friday deadline. 
 
 It didn't take long for residents to notice a difference. By June 2014, according to the city, residents began to complain about the water. 
 
 And here's the thing that seems to really gall some Flint residents: As the water quality has suffered, their bills have gone up, thanks to rate increases imposed first by Mayor Dayne Walling, and then built into the budget by Snyder's emergency managers. A Genesee Circuit Court judge issued an injunction in August rolling back a 35% rate increase imposed by Walling in 2011. 
 
 It's a hard thing, I was told again and again, to pay more for water you can't use, and to have to buy bottled water on top of that. 
 
 Buy Photo (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 Undeniable evidence; inevitable consequences 
 
 A Virginia Tech University researcher tested water from hundreds of Flint homes, finding elevated lead levels. State data showed the highest rates of lead in Flint's water in 20 years. And a blood test analysis released last week by a local pediatric researcher, and confirmed Friday by the state Department of Health and Human Services, found that the percentage of Flint kids with elevated blood-lead levels has spiked, doubling in certain ZIP codes, since the switch. 
 
 In kids, exposure to lead can cause behavior or attention problems, hearing problems, kidney damage, reduced IQ and slowed body growth, among other effects. The damage is irreversible. 
 
 For children like Gavin, one of LeeAnne Walters' 4-year-old twins, it's more serious. Because Gavin's immune system is compromised — a condition unrelated to the water — he's more susceptible to the effects of lead. The whole family developed rashes, likely because of a disinfectant added to the water because of coliform bacteria. Gavin stopped gaining weight, lagging his twin; now he's 37 pounds, compared with his twin's 52 pounds. Doctors weren't sure what was happening. 
 
 Then she asked the city to test her water. It showed astronomically high rates of lead, prompting an urgent e-mail exchange between the city, the state Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through the Freedom of Information Act — and Walters said she received an urgent call from city hall advising her to stop using it. 
 
 Lead screening showed that Gavin's blood-lead levels had soared, up to 6.5 micrograms per deciliter of blood from 2, before the switch. 
 
 "I was hysterical," Walters said. "I cried when they gave me my first lead report." 
 
 Before that, she'd pushed her kids to drink water instead of juice or soda. 
 
 Buy Photo (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 "I'm trying to do my job, as a mom," she said. Now, she says, "my kids will never drink tap water again." 
 
 One of the worst things about lead is that it's hard to know exactly how it will manifest. 
 
 "What's the difference going to be between Gavin and his brother in school? Is he going to have more issues as this progresses?" Walters said. 
 
 That's what haunts Flint mom Melissa Mays, who says her family has experienced a range of health problems she links to the water. Mays and Walters have become relentless advocates for safe water, leading protests, interacting with Virginia Tech researchers and challenging city and state assurances that the water was OK. These days, even her cat drinks bottled water. 
 
 "I pushed them to drink water — 'Put down that juice, go get some water,'" she said of her teenage sons. "Lead is in our blood." 
 
 Mays told me that she'll always wonder, as her children grow — is this problem because of lead? Would it have happened, regardless? 
 
 "I'll never know," she said. 
 
 The night I got back from Flint, I ran a bath for my 5-year-old son. I thought about how Mays filled her tub to show me the greenish color of the water. The water running from my bathtub faucet was clear. You might even — not to get too melodramatic — call it sparkling. I don't think I'd properly appreciated that before. 
 
 My son splashed around with his toys, plunging his face in to show me how he can hold his nose underwater. He likes to sneak sips of bath water, although I tell him not to, because I'm not sure he should drink water that has soap in it, or whether or not he's peed since he got into the tub. But I don't get too nuts about it. 
 
 Because whatever's in there probably won't hurt him. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1LaXQ98 ||||| FLINT, MI -- The city says there's been too much disinfection byproduct in Flint's water system recently, something that -- over many years could cause liver, kidney or central nervous system problems and an increased risk of cancer. 
 
 The notice from the city says Flint water is safe to drink but warns those with "a severely compromised immune system, (who) have an infant or are elderly" that they "may be at increased risk and should seek advice about drinking water from your health care provider." 
 
 For others, there is no need to boil water or take other actions, the notice says. 
 
 "It 's been a rocky road," City Council President Josh Freeman said. "It's not acceptable. 
 
 "People have a reasonable expectation that they are going to have quality drinking water. This is obviously going to rattle people." 
 
 Mailed Friday, Jan. 2, the customer notices come after the state Department of Environmental Quality issued a notice of violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act for maximum contaminant levels for trihalomethanes -- or TTHM -- a group of four chemicals that are formed as a byproduct of disinfecting water. 
 
 As city water plant operators used additional chlorine to fight bacteria in the Flint water system this summer, disinfectant byproduct levels also likely increased, city officials said Friday. 
 
 Levels of TTHM have decreased since that time, and in Nov. 20, testing at eight locations showed only one that exceeded maximum contamination levels, according to the state's notice of violation. 
 
 Testing on Aug. 21 showed contaminant levels were higher than maximum levels allowed at each of the same eight locations. 
 
 "The water in our system today is not in violation" because of efforts to improve the distribution system and adjust water treatment, said Doughtery Johnson, utilities administrator at the Flint water treatment plant. 
 
 Those changes "have likely contributed in part to the reduction in TTHM levels reported in the most recent quarter, and suggest the city may be able to achieve compliance with the TTHM standard," the state's violation notice says. 
 
 City officials released a statement Friday saying its actions "appear to have corrected ... known compliance issues with the system, including a recent temporary increase in the maximum contamination level (MCL) of trihalomethanes (TTHM) 
 
 "Both the city of Flint and the MDEQ expect the corrective measures being implemented will resolve the issue by early 2015," the statement says. 
 
 The city's recent violation for excessive disinfectant byproducts is the latest in a series of issues for the Flint water system since officials changed the water source pumped to homes and business from treated Lake Huron water purchased from the city of Detroit to water drawn directly from the Flint River and treated in Flint. 
 
 The use of Flint River water is expected to be temporary because the city is a partner in the Karegnondi Water Authority, which is building a new water pipeline to Lake Huron. 
 
 Once that system is put into service, something that's expected to happen by the end of 2016, Flint will be in a position to return to using lake water. 
 
 Freeman said that long-term plan remains "the right path to be on" and said the city appears to be on course to fix the problem of disinfection byproduct levels, but Councilman Eric Mays called on the City Council to hold an inquiry about drinking water quality. 
 
 "Sworn information given under oath is the only information I trust," Mays said. 
 
 Residents have complained to the council about the smell and taste of the water since Flint stopped the flow of lake water here and there were three boil water advisories in a 22-day span this summer after positive tests for total coliform and fecal coliform bacteria. 
 
 In October, General Motors announced that it would no longer use treated river water at its engine plant here because of fears high chloride levels would cause corrosion. 
 
 Flint Department of Public Works Director Howard Croft said that the city's aging water distribution system remains the biggest obstacle to meeting Safe Drinking Water standards but officials have also said the relatively low quality of untreated river water and the need to more carefully manage chemical treatment has also been a factor. 
 
 Croft told a City Council committee in September that river water has proven hard to treat and to keep safe because of variables that wouldn't be factors in lake water, like temperature fluctuation and rain. 
 
 But Croft said the city has made improvements to its distribution system and said additional improvements are on the way, including pipe replacements, leak detection and hydraulic monitoring. 
 
 Johnson said the size of Flint's water system, which once served more than 200,000 people and now serves about half that number, also makes keeping water fresh in distribution pipes difficult. 
 
 Stagnant water is more susceptible to contamination, officials have said. 
 
 Flint will remain in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act until every test site in the city has acceptable levels of disinfectant byproducts, Johnson and Croft said. 
 
 The next round of testing is scheduled to take place in February. ||||| This post has been updated.* 
 
 Residents of Flint, Mich., complained of persistent problems with their water since the city switched the supply in April 2014. On Jan. 13, officials announced a spike in cases of Legionnaires' disease in the area. (AP) 
 
 For months, worried parents in Flint, Mich., arrived at their pediatricians’ offices in droves. Holding a toddler by the hand or an infant in their arms, they all have the same question: Are their children being poisoned? 
 
 To find out, all it takes is a prick of the finger, a small letting of blood. If tests come back positive, the potentially severe consequences are far more difficult to discern. 
 
 That’s how lead works. It leaves its mark quietly, with a virtually invisible trail. But years later, when a child shows signs of a learning disability or behavioral issues, lead’s prior presence in the bloodstream suddenly becomes inescapable. 
 
 According to the World Health Organization, “lead affects children’s brain development resulting in reduced intelligence quotient (IQ), behavioral changes such as shortening of attention span and increased antisocial behavior, and reduced educational attainment. Lead exposure also causes anemia, hypertension, renal impairment, immunotoxicity and toxicity to the reproductive organs. The neurological and behavioral effects of lead are believed to be irreversible.” 
 
 The Hurley Medical Center, in Flint, released a study in September that confirmed what many Flint parents had feared for over a year: The proportion of infants and children with above-average levels of lead in their blood has nearly doubled since the city switched from the Detroit water system to using the Flint River as its water source, in 2014. 
 
 The crisis reached a nadir Monday night, when Flint Mayor Karen Weaver declared a state of emergency. 
 
 “The City of Flint has experienced a Manmade disaster,” Weaver said in a declaratory statement. 
 
 1 of 37 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × The controversial case over dangerous lead in water in a Michigan city View Photos Anger over high levels of lead in the water in Flint has led the mayor to declare a state of emergency. Caption Anger over high levels of lead in the water in Flint has led the mayor to declare a state of emergency. Jan. 25, 2016 Flint resident Angela Hickmon, 56, chants during a protest outside City Hall in downtown Flint. Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 The mayor — elected after her predecessor, Dayne Walling, experienced fallout from his administration’s handling of the water problems — said in the statement that she was seeking support from the federal government to deal with the “irreversible” effects of lead exposure on the city’s children. Weaver thinks that these health consequences will lead to a greater need for special education and mental health services, as well as developments in the juvenile justice system. 
 
 “Do we meet the criteria [for a disaster area]? I don’t know,” she told Michigan Live. But Weaver doesn’t think the city can receive the help it needs without alerting federal officials to the urgency of the matter. 
 
 [How companies make millions off lead-poisoned, poor blacks] 
 
 To those living in Flint, the announcement may feel as if it has been a long time coming. 
 
 Almost immediately after the city started drawing from the Flint River in April 2014, residents began complaining about the water, which they said was cloudy in appearance and emitted a foul odor. 
 
 Since then, complications from the water coming from the Flint River have only piled up. Although city and state officials initially denied that the water was unsafe, the state issued a notice informing Flint residents that their water contained unlawful levels of trihalomethanes, a chlorine byproduct linked to cancer and other diseases. 
 
 
 
 Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, right, and City Administrator Natasha Henderson, address questions about adding supplemental phosphates to the city’s water during a news conference in December. (Jake May/Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP) 
 
 Protesters marched to City Hall in the fierce Michigan cold, calling for officials to reconnect Flint’s water to the Detroit system. The use of the Flint River was supposed to be temporary, set to end in 2016 after a pipeline to Lake Huron’s Karegnondi Water Authority is finished. 
 
 A petition lobbying for the ending the city’s Flint River water supply garnered 26,000 signatures. 
 
 Through continued demonstrations by Flint residents and mounting scientific evidence of the water’s toxins, city and state officials offered various solutions — from asking residents to boil their water to providing them with water filters — in an attempt to work around the need to reconnect to the Detroit system. 
 
 That call was finally made by Snyder (R) on Oct. 8. He announced that he had a plan for coming up with the $12 million to switch Flint back to the Detroit system. On Oct. 16, water started flowing again from Detroit to Flint. 
 
 David Murray, press secretary for Michigan governor Rick Snyder’s office, told The Washington Post that the state has been working on improving the water quality in Flint and other cities for the past year. It has also offered more than $10 million in financial assistance to pay for a temporary switch into the Detroit system while the connection to Lake Huron is being prepared. 
 
 “Flint residents need to have access to safe, clean water,” Murray wrote in an email to The Post. “Gov. Snyder and the administration have been working closely with the city to focus on health issues affecting children and other city residents, and address water infrastructure challenges.” 
 
 He added that while the water leaving Flint’s drinking water system is safe to drink, “some families with lead plumbing in their homes or service connections could experience higher levels of lead in the water that comes out of their faucets.” An action plan created by Snyder in October includes free water testing, free water filters and the accelerating of corrosion controls in the drinking water system, according to Murray. 
 
 For the parents of children who may have been affected, such actions were accompanied by the sense that they had come too late. 
 
 These parents and other Flint residents filed a class-action federal lawsuit against Snyder, the state, the city and 13 other public officials in November for the damages they have suffered as a result of the lead-tainted water. The suit, which claims to represent “tens of thousands of residents,” alleges that the city and state officials “deliberately deprived” them of their 14th Amendment rights by replacing formerly safe drinking water with a cheaper alternative that was known to be highly toxic. 
 
 
 
 Lyla McCallun, 4, formerly of Flint, draws on a sheet of paper while sitting on the lap of her grandmother, Flint resident Jacqueline Pemberton, one of six others listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. (Jake May /Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP) 
 
 “For more than 18 months, state and local government officials ignored irrefutable evidence that the water pumped from the Flint River exposed [residents] to extreme toxicity,” the complaint reads. “The deliberately false denials about the safety of the Flint River water was as deadly as it was arrogant.” 
 
 Calling officials’ conduct “so egregious and so outrageous that it shocks the conscience,” the complaint cites the specific experiences of a few plaintiffs and their families, all of whom allege they have been challenged by similar health ailments since high levels of lead and copper entered their bloodstreams. 
 
 These conditions include skin lesions, hair loss, chemical-induced hypertension, vision loss and depression. Of the four families described in the complaint, two had ceased to drink Flint water after a certain point — and used it only for washing and cooking — but still said they were exposed to many of the same ill effects. 
 
 Snyder’s press secretary, Murray, wrote in an email to The Post that the administration disagrees with points in the suit, but declined to discuss details of pending litigation. 
 
 As the Detroit Free Press reported in October, avoiding Flint water became a way of life for the city’s residents. 
 
 Those who could afford it opted for bottled water, buying it by the gallons. Those who couldn’t spare the money drank it straight from the tap all the same, knowing that they would be paying for it later. When it came to bathing, some slowly filled bathtubs with pots of boiled water for their children. 
 
 (The city issued a boil advisory in September 2014. This recommendation runs contrary to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines on lead in drinking water, which state that heating or boiling water will not remove lead. In fact, “because some of the water evaporates during the boiling process, the lead concentration of the water can actually increase slightly as the water is boiled,” according to the CDC.) 
 
 LeeAnn Walters, a Flint resident and mother of 4-year-old twins, took every precaution after blood tests revealed that the level of lead in one of her sons had soared after the switch to Flint River. 
 
 “I was hysterical,” Walters told the Free Press. “I cried when they gave me my first lead report.” 
 
 She had feared lead was the problem when her whole family developed rashes and her son stopped gaining weight. 
 
 Now, Walters said, when her children experience problems as they grow up, she will always wonder whether things would have been different — if their lives would have been better — if it weren’t for the water. 
 
 *This post has been updated with a response from the office of Gov. Rick Snyder. 
 
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 Tabloid columnist wrote that a Disneyland-bound Muslim family had al-Qaeda ties. She was dead wrong.
– Flint, Mich., drew its water from the Flint River for about 18 months after ditching Detroit's water service—but that was enough time to cause lead levels in local kids to spike, which has now led the mayor to declare a state of emergency, Michigan Live reports. Mayor Karen Weaver told the Flint City Council Monday that the city needs federal help in dealing with the crisis. "The City of Flint has experienced a Manmade disaster," Weaver wrote in a statement posted on Twitter. Residents complained after the switch in April 2014 about urine-colored water that smelled and tasted awful, as well as health concerns like hair loss. City and state officials first denied the water was unsafe, the Washington Post reports, but in January, a notice was issued to residents noting that a disinfection byproduct tied to cancer and other illnesses was present in the water. Not only that, but lead leached into untreated (or insufficiently treated) corrosive water as it swept through old pipes, the Detroit Free Press notes. Genesee County first declared a public health emergency after a study found that from April 2014 to October 2015, the percentage of babies and children with lead levels in their blood that were higher than average almost doubled throughout the city, while those in particularly high-risk areas saw that percentage almost triple, per Michigan Live. The city is once again hooked up to the Detroit water system, but fears remain high: The WHO notes the "neurological and [behavioral] effects of lead are believed to be irreversible," adding that affected kids can suffer mental retardation, disruptive behavior, and even coma and death. "The deliberately false denials about the safety of the Flint River water was as deadly as it was arrogant," reads a class-action lawsuit filed in November by Flint residents, per the Post. (Victims of lead poisoning are losing millions of dollars.)