Musk donates to bring clean water to schools in Flint, Michigan



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Elon Musk has had a rough summer, largely of his own, but he has always found time to honor a commitment to safe water in Flint, Michigan, that he had posted on Twitter on July 11, 2018. Even though it seemed like an idle answer. to a Twitter user using an obvious reverse psychology attempt – "NO WAY, you can help" – Musk took it seriously.

Musk first offered to pass on the responses of Flint residents whose test results revealed unhealthy water and to arrange for the individual installation of filters. He did however several steps further. On October 5th, the Flint Community School District announced that Musk and its Musk Foundation had donated nearly $ 500,000 to provide ultraviolet filtration systems to the 12 school buildings in the system and to the district headquarters here. January 2019. The system will eliminate lead and kill bacteria for drinking water, allowing students to use fountains and fill water bottles.

In a statement, Derrick Lopez, Director of Flint Community Schools, said, "We are deeply grateful for the generosity and emerging partnership between Flint Community Schools, the Musk Foundation and Elon Musk. The new water filtration systems will help our students get back to the normal life of what should be a fundamental right: to have access to safe, clean water from the fountains in their school. "

The district thanked Musk and his foundation on Twitter, and Musk said, "You're welcome. I hope to do more to help in the future. "

Musk also respected his original tweet, providing direct support to some residents, including the person who asked him to help.

The stories of well-being, or at least of "do not feel so bad," were turned upside down last week, especially by the news of Musk telling him that he was altering the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Twitter following an agreement in principle reached between Tesla, and the agency about a tweet he had done this summer about the privatization of Tesla.

Hundreds of thousands of old pipes containing lead are being replaced throughout the Flint, but it will likely be at least until 2020. State authorities say the water is safe, but Michigan continues to provide filters. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, Flint's pediatrician, criticizes exposing water contamination, advises people to continue using bottled or filtered water, in part because the replacement of the pipeline is also a source lead.

Flint's water system remains a sensitive point in the intersection of race, world trade, rust politics, environmental security, government austerity and the administration of bankruptcy imposed by the State. A predominantly black city, Flint suffered a major impact decades ago as General Motors reduced its operations in the city and closed factories around the city.

The water crisis began four years ago when the city changed its source of food while it was under bankruptcy administration in order to cut down on expenses while still failing. applying no corrosion inhibitors, reducing heavy metal releases (especially lead) from old pipes that prevailed in economically disadvantaged areas city. An outbreak of legionellosis has also been linked to the water switch. A number of officials at the local and national levels have been charged with crimes such as willful negligence and manslaughter.

Although the problems first appeared in 2014, it was not until January 2016 that the governor declared a state of emergency in Flint County. Water tests conducted from early 2017 showed that lead levels had dropped to safe levels, but tests in schools revealed that some samples exceeded thresholds.

believed to be safe.

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