The water-sharing systems between Mexico and the U.S. are facing one of the biggest tests in their 80-year history after Mexico has fallen behind on billions of gallons of water deliveries.
The water boil advisory had been announced Wednesday night for safety reasons. It had posed a challenge as the nation's capital prepares to stage its annual Fourth of July celebrations.
The boil water advisory has been lifted for the entire city nearly a week after two water mains broke and plunged the city into an unprecedented water crisis.
Repairs continued Tuesday afternoon as Atlanta Watershed clarified its boil water advisory map for residents and listed new outages in affected neighborhoods.
Since Friday, some residents have gone without water and businesses and government offices have temporarily closed. For a broader view of this infrastructure failure, we turn to Dr. Iris Tien with Georgia Tech.
After a series of water mains breaks that began Friday in Atlanta, a large portion of residents remain without drinkable water. GPB’s Amanda Andrews reports business owners are demanding financial relief.
For at least some residents, Atlanta's water problems aren't over. Resident Milena Franco says flow was cut off to her apartment before dawn Monday, leaving her a dry shower. City officials say water was shut down in the immediate neighborhood as part of a successful effort to stanch the flow from a broken water main.
Water pressure is returning to downtown Atlanta and nearby neighborhoods. Problems are easing Sunday after a water outage that began Friday, shutting down businesses and leaving faucets dry at many homes. A large swath of the city remains under an order to boil water before drinking it.
Atlanta Watershed shut off water at 1 a.m. to certain streets to complete “essential repairs” on a broken water main that has been gushing since Friday night.
A trial for a mass environmental injury case begins in Hawaii on Monday, more than two years after a U.S. military facility poisoned thousands of people when it leaked jet fuel into drinking water.
Ten years ago, Flint, Mich. switched water sources to the Flint River. The lack of corrosion control in the pipes caused lead to leach into the water supply of tens of thousands of residents. Pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha recognized a public health crisis in the making and gathered data proving the negative health impact on Flint's young children. In doing so, she and community organizers in Flint sparked a national conversation about lead in the U.S. water system that persists today.
Today on the show, host Emily Kwong and science correspondent Pien Huang talk about the state of Flint and other cities with lead pipes. Efforts to replace these pipes hinge on proposed changes to the EPA's Lead and Copper Rule.
Have questions or comments for us to consider for a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
