<P> On September 27, 2016, Flint officials announced that the city will continue to use Detroit water until a new stretch of pipeline is constructed and the Flint River is tested and treated by the KWA . </P> <P> On December 9, 2016 the MDEQ reported that more than 96 percent of water samples in Flint residencies were now below the EPA lead threshold of 15 parts per billion . </P> <P> On March 15, 2017, the Genesee County Water and Waste Services Advisory Board voted to construct a new pipeline; it would be a 7 - mile, 42 - inch connector to the KWA pipeline . The pipeline would allow the treatment of raw Lake Huron water, so the city of Flint can continue to buy pre-treated water from the Great Lakes Water Authority . The $12 million project will allow Flint to remain a customer of the GLWA until at least 2019 . </P> <P> In January 2015, a public meeting was held, where citizens complained about the "bad water ." Residents complained about the taste, smell, and appearance of the water for 18 months before a Flint physician found highly elevated blood lead levels in the children of Flint . During that time period, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality had insisted the water was safe to drink . A study by Virginia Tech researchers (see section below) determined that the river water, which, due to higher chloride concentration, is more corrosive than the lake water, was leaching lead from aging pipes . Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan said this level of lead exposure is comparable with what the Iraqi people have experienced since the U.S. occupation in 2003 . </P>

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