Residents of Flint, Michigan affected by the water crisis can now find all the information they need to deal with the situation using a new mobile app developed by Google and the University of Michigan (UM).
Computer scientists at UM's Flint and Ann Arbor campuses collaborated with Google to create the Mywater-Flint app and website. Their goal is to provide people in affected areas with information on how the Flint water crisis is being dealt with.
"We've developed an essential resource," UM computer science assistant professor Jake Abernethy said. "It's an independent platform that gives people information they need and want to know as they navigate this complex situation."
Users can log in to the new tools to know about testing of newly placed water pipes as well as where water distribution centers and filters are located in their community. They can also find out about the results of lead testing for water supply lines.
According to the developers, Mywater-Flint can be used to determine which households in the Flint area are exposed to dangerously high lead levels by checking the age, location, value, and size of their homes.
The research team also hopes that the new app can help promote transparency and trust among the people of Flint devastated by the crisis. Many residents have already expressed their frustrations at the lack of enough clean drinking water.
Mark Allison, one of the UM computer scientists who worked on Mywater-Flint, said trust has been a major driving factor with the ongoing water problem in Flint. He and his fellow researchers believe the new app can help increase transparency, as it allows residents to see what is being done to resolve it.
For its part, Google gave the UM researchers a $150,000 grant to help fund the project. Company engineers also assisted the team by providing technical assistance throughout the development of the new tools.
Mike Miller, head of Google in Michigan, said the company is glad to help the university create Mywater-Flint. He explained that giving Flint residents more information about their water supply is a huge step toward the community's recovery.
Flint Water Crisis
Many observers believe the water crisis began when Flint officials decided to switch the city's water source in 2014. While work was being made to use Lake Huron as a primary water source, the city government turned to the Flint River for its temporary supply during the transition.
The city has used the Flint River as its main water source decades before but chose to switch to Lake Huron in 1967. The river has since been found to have poor water quality, with fecal coliform bacteria, plant nutrients, and toxic substances plaguing the site.
The water source switch has led to a greater number of Flint residents being exposed to highly toxic levels of lead. The percentage of children with elevated lead levels in their blood rose from 2.5 percent in 2013 to more than 5 percent in 2015.
The water crisis is also being linked to an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease, which has already killed 10 residents and sickened 88 others.
