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Mayor Neeley announces expected completion of 3 major water infrastructure projects this year

As the City of Flint approaches the 7-year anniversary of the start of the Flint water crisis, Mayor Sheldon Neeley is announcing that the city expects to complete three major water infrastructure projects this year.

“There is still more work to be done, but we are moving our community forward in a positive direction,” Neeley said. “The first step to re-earning trust in this community is repairing our infrastructure. After seven long years, I am proud to say we are making significant progress.”

This year, the city of Flint is poised to complete three major water infrastructure projects, all of which are designed to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents now and into the future:

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. As of April 9, 2021, there have been excavations of pipes at 26,819 homes and 9,941 lead and/or galvanized steel pipes have been replaced. The remaining used safe water pipe material and did not need to be replaced. There are an estimated 500 more homes awaiting excavation. Residents still can choose to opt-in to the service line replacement program. For more information, go to www.cityofflint.com/gettheleadout.

Chemical Feed Building Construction: This $6 million project is constructing a state-of-the-art building and related infrastructure 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.

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.

These projects represent major infrastructure improvements to be completed as part of the local, state and federal response to the Flint water crisis.

A $374,000 water quality monitoring project also was completed in 2020, under Mayor Neeley’s leadership.

Major renovations also were completed this year on the Dort Water Reservoir. This 20-million gallon underground water storage facility will allow the city of Flint to buy water at a lower cost during off-peak usage hours and safely store it for usage during peak hours. These renovations will allow this facility to last the city of Flint another 100 years. Work soon will begin on the pump station portion of the $6.7 million project.

Other remaining projects include renovation of the Cedar Street reservoir and pump station, upgrading all household water meters and replacing several water mains.

The city of Flint received a total of $167 million to repair its infrastructure in the wake of the Flint Water Crisis. The work completed so far accounts for $104 million, with $63 million remaining.

The city of Flint also conducts widespread lead and copper testing as required under the Safe Drinking Water Act every six months. Testing results continue to show water quality inside the city of Flint remains stable and well below federal action levels. In the most recent testing (which specifically targets homes and businesses where lead service lines still are being used), the 90th percentile lead levels are 6 parts per billion, far below federal action levels.

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