The current crisis in Flint, Michigan, began in April 2013 when, as reported by mLive, officials signed a deal to obtain 16 million gallons of 'water per day from the Karegnondi Water Authority ( KWA) instead of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). Both of these water authorities get their water from Lake Huron, but the KWA agreement would have saved Flint millions of dollars. However, this new water authority was not expected to be ready for three years. Once the agreement was signed, the DWSD told Flint it would stop selling water to Flint within twelve months, so Flint had to find a new water source for the interim period until the KWA system was completed (Rappleye, NBC News). March 12, 2014, “Flint city leaders and Flint Water Treatment Plant officials held a groundbreaking ceremony…to celebrate the beginning of the process of drawing water from the Flint River” (Schuch, mLive). In the month before the DWSD agreement expired, renovations and upgrades had been made to the Flint Water Treatment Plant so that it could treat and distribute water from the Flint River, the city's backup source. On April 25, 2014 the DWSD pipeline was shut down and the water is coming from the Flint River. The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said residents should not notice any difference. After the change there were immediate complaints about the odor, color and taste of the water (Durando, USA Today), as well as reports of skin rashes and concerns about bacteria (Lin, New York Times). Residents are starting to buy bottled water to use instead of the “cloudy, foamy water” coming from taps. Among those concerns, the state DEQ says the water meets state standards. On June 12, city officials reveal that...... middle of paper...... tive fountains. When…exposed to the bacteria, it can cause legionellosis, a respiratory disease that can infect the lungs and cause pneumonia.” In Genesee County, eighty-seven cases of Legionnaires' disease resulting in ten deaths were reported between June 2014 and November 2015 (AlHajal, mLive). Because the Flint River water had high levels of bacteria, it was treated with additional chlorine that reacted with organic material in the water, producing carcinogenic byproducts, trihalomethanes, and making the water more acidic which corroded pipes. (Carmody). The corrosive water has eaten away at the protective film inside the city's old pipes, allowing odorless and tasteless lead to seep into the water. The effects of low-exposure lead poisoning in adults include an increased risk of hypertension and decreased cognitive function (Barry-Jester, FiveThirtyEight).