David Hand Quoted on Flint Water

David Hand
David Hand

David Hand, chair of the department of civil and environmental engineering, was quoted in the article “Flint Water: Where Science Took a Backseat to the Money.”

The article, by Seth Augenstein, was printed in Laboratory Equipment.

From Tech Today.

Flint Water: Where Science Took a Backseat to the Money

General Motors had a problem. The engine blocks in their Flint, Mich. plant were corroding as fast as they came off the production line. In the few months since the city had switched from Detroit water to the supply of the nearby Flint River, everything the factory produced was rusting over.

Tests quickly revealed the cause: elevated levels of chlorides were allowing the water to more-easily oxidize the metal.

The city switched to the river water in April 2014. GM reported its problems within months. After more months of inaction from the city leaders, the company alone switched back to Detroit water in December 2014.

“GM did inform the city,” said David Hand, chair of the civil and environmental engineering department at Michigan Technological University, in an interview with Laboratory Equipment. “No doubt (the city) should have realized they should evaluate the water.”

Read more at Laboratory Equipment, by Seth Augenstein.