Is There Lead In Your Drinking Water? Meet The Startup Building Rapid Tests For Your Tap

Is There Lead In Your Drinking Water? Meet The Startup Building Rapid Tests For Your Tap

In America, dangerous drinking water is linked to a place called Flint. From 2014 to 2019, this small city in Michigan suffered one of the nation's worst public health crises. Thousands of its residents bathed in, gargled and drank tap water that had been contaminated with lead. It is unknown how many children will suffer irreparable harm as a result. In addition to ripping up over 10, 000 lead pipes in the area, the state of Michigan has agreed to a settlement of over $600 million, with the majority of funds going to the families of affected children. Late last year, as part of the $1. 2 trillion infrastructure bill, the federal government agreed to spend $15 billion more to replace other lead pipes across the country. But where else is the lurking lead? "Flint made lead in drinking water visible to a lot of Americans, but what most people don't realize is that there are hundreds of communities in this country that have lead levels higher than Flint did at its worst," says Khalid Alam, PhD. Alam, a recent recruit in the fight for safe drinking water, is an unlikely warrior. But he believes his team has a way