Mayor Neeley announces completion of secondary water pipeline project

FLINT, Michigan—As the City of Flint acknowledges the 8th anniversary of the start of the Flint water crisis, Mayor Sheldon Neeley is announcing that the City has completed a major water infrastructure project.

“The City of Flint is excited to announce the completion of the secondary water pipeline project. This system will ensure the City of Flint has a backup water source in case of an emergency. We are continuing to move our community forward in a positive direction,” Mayor Neeley said. “The secondary water pipeline is another step toward rebuilding trust in our community; I am extremely proud of the progress we’ve made.”

• Secondary Water Source Connection: This $17 million project ensures the City of Flint has a backup water source in an emergency. The City of Flint contracts with the Great Lakes Water Authority for water through a 30-year contract agreement. This project provides a link between the City of Flint’s existing water infrastructure and the Genesee County Drain Commission as an emergency backup in case service from GLWA is ever disrupted. Both the Genesee County Drain Commission and GLWA source their water from Lake Huron.
  • MDHHS started collecting water samples in August 2021, during the incremental phases of the blending and will continue to collect samples after the City of Flint returns to the 95/5 blend. This sampling is in addition to the City of Flint’s Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) sampling in accordance with Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) standards set by The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Environmental Protection Agency.

In the last year, the City of Flint has completed additional water infrastructure projects designed to protect the health, safety, and welfare of residents now and into the future.

• Chemical Feed System: This landmark project constructed a state-of-the-art building and related infrastructure. The facility is responsible for providing essential chemicals to both the finished water from GLWA and Flint’s secondary water source to ensure water is treated safely and effectively. The main building in this project is located at the Flint Water Treatment Plant on Dort Highway.
• Water main replacements: Replacement work was completed at Atherton Rd. Water main replacements were also completed at Dupont Rd and Court Street in Flint.
• Since July 2016, the City of Flint’s water system has met both state and federal standards for lead in drinking water for 11 consecutive monitoring periods. Sampling rounds are completed every six months. Testing results continue to show water quality inside the City of Flint remains stable and below federal action levels. Testing targets homes and businesses with lead service lines. Flint’s latest testing result of 7ppb is well below the federal action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb).

The city’s ongoing projects include:

• Service Line Replacement: This $97 million project replaces lead and galvanized steel residential water lines from the home to the curb and the curb to the street. In November 2021, the NRDC gave notice of an additional 1,500 addresses that required contact/scheduling attempts that need to be completed before the SLR project is complete. There have been excavations of pipes at 26,887 homes. As of April 2022, City Council approved Rowe project management contract and RFPs for construction contracts are under development.
• Renovations to the Cedar Street Reservoir and the northwest water main are both scheduled to start in 2023.

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