CHICAGO - Flint, Mich. plans to hire a water quality consultant to help improve the city's poor water quality since it broke off from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
Since leaving Detroit's system in May, Flint - which is under state-controlled emergency management -- has been getting its water from the Flint River and treating it at its own treatment plant. The city eventually plans to shift to a new system called the Karegnondi Water Authority, a project that's headed up by Genesee County and in the midst of construction.
Some Flint officials want to go back to Detroit water until the Karegnondi system is up and running, according to local reports.
But the city's emergency manager, Darnell Earley, reportedly shot the idea down as too expensive. Both Earley and Mayor Dayne Walling said they want instead to hire a water management consultant to help treat the water effectively.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality found the city in violation of federal standards in December for having excess trihalomethane from the river.
