ActiveRemediation: The Search for Lead Pipes in Flint, Michigan

We detail our ongoing work in Flint, Michigan to detect pipes made of lead and other hazardous metals. After elevated levels of lead were detected in residents' drinking water, followed by an increase in blood lead levels in area children, the state and federal governments directed over $125 mi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2018-08
Main Authors: Abernethy, Jacob, Chojnacki, Alex, Arya Farahi, Schwartz, Eric, Webb, Jared
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Buried pipes
Drinking water
Federal government
Flint
Infrastructure
Inspection
Lead
Lead poisoning
Machine learning
Municipalities
Statistical models
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We detail our ongoing work in Flint, Michigan to detect pipes made of lead and other hazardous metals. After elevated levels of lead were detected in residents' drinking water, followed by an increase in blood lead levels in area children, the state and federal governments directed over $125 million to replace water service lines, the pipes connecting each home to the water system. In the absence of accurate records, and with the high cost of determining buried pipe materials, we put forth a number of predictive and procedural tools to aid in the search and removal of lead infrastructure. Alongside these statistical and machine learning approaches, we describe our interactions with government officials in recommending homes for both inspection and replacement, with a focus on the statistical model that adapts to incoming information. Finally, in light of discussions about increased spending on infrastructure development by the federal government, we explore how our approach generalizes beyond Flint to other municipalities nationwide.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1806.10692