Image Credit Queen Elizabeth I Unknown continental artist Natalie Lamb @natnotgnats oil on panel, circa 1575 NSTLamb@gmail.com NPG 2082
Lead- a thing of the past? The Flint water crisis began in 2014 • after the drinking water source was changed from Lake Huron/Detroit River to Flint River Customer complaints about water • taste, odour and appearance Customer-organised lead testing of • 252 homes found 17% of samples with 15 μ g/l and >40% of samples with 5 μ g/l ppb of lead ~9,000 children were supplied lead- • contaminated water for 18 months The incidence of elevated blood-lead • levels in children citywide had nearly doubled since Natalie Lamb @natnotgnats Image Credit NSTLamb@gmail.com Medium Corporation 2014
Property Boundary Supply Pipe- Communication Pipe- Customer Water Utility Responsibility Responsibility Water Main Natalie Lamb @natnotgnats NSTLamb@gmail.com
Property Boundary Lead is regulated at the customer tap (max 10 μ g/l) Supply Pipe- Communication Pipe- Customer Water Utility Responsibility Responsibility Water Main Natalie Lamb @natnotgnats NSTLamb@gmail.com
Is phosphate the perfect lead solution? Expense- in 2008 the UK used • >12,000 tonnes of phosphate, which came to a total cost of £12.24 million, a figure far above other chemicals dosed Under The Urban Waste Water • Treatment Directive (European Commission, 2016) phosphate must be removed at sewage treatment works, with further costs Phosphate is a finite resource- some • sources say it will be gone in as little as 50 years Poor dose optimisation- cannot be • adjusted for specific water conditions If accidents happen, phosphate can • cause eutrophication of water bodies and encourage toxic algal blooms Natalie Lamb @natnotgnats NSTLamb@gmail.com
I am Natalie Lamb and I am a scientist! If there were no lead pipes, could we remove the phosphate? Natalie Lamb @natnotgnats Feel free to ask me questions on the Post-It notes or right now NSTLamb@gmail.com
Natalie Lamb @natnotgnats NSTLamb@gmail.com
Key take home messages Why research Chemicals can have unintended consequences chemical free on human health and the water? environment Is chemical Yes, there are countries striving towards it every free water day, who we can and possible? should learn from Is chemical The UK has a lot of challenges to overcome before it is possible. free water My future research will determine the next steps the UK possible in the has to take before becoming chemical free UK? Natalie Lamb @natnotgnats NSTLamb@gmail.com
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