大多数人可能甚至不会多想在学校给水瓶装水这件事。打开水龙头，喝一口，然后继续前行。但对于密歇根州弗林特的孩子们来说，这个小习惯不再让人感到安全。2016年发表在《美国公共卫生杂志》上的一篇论文发现，弗林特市在更换水源后，更多年幼儿童出现了高血铅水平。2018年，埃隆·马斯克捐赠了480,350美元用于学校过滤水系统，尽管根据《财富》杂志对该捐赠的报道，学生们要等好几年才能安全使用这些设备。
Most of us probably don’t even think twice about filling up a water bottle at school. You turn on the tap, take a sip, move on. For kids in Flint, Michigan, that small habit stopped feeling safe. A 2016 paper in the American Journal of Public Health found that more young children in Flint had high blood lead levels after the city switched its water source. In 2018, Elon Musk came to the rescue with a donation of $480,350 for school water filters, though it would be years before students could safely use them, according to a Fortune report on the donation.
弗林特发生了什么弗林特市于2014年4月将饮用水源切换至弗林特河。2015年10月，它又切换回了底特律供水系统。该研究表明，新水源更具腐蚀性，而旧系统可能未得到妥善处理以控制腐蚀。研究人员比较了2013年和2015年5岁以下儿童的血铅水平。血铅水平偏高的比例从2.4%上升至4.9%。另外，最高的水铅读数出现在水中铅含量上升了6.6%的社区。
What happened in FlintThe city of Flint switched its source of drinking water to the Flint River in April 2014. It switched back to the Detroit water system in October 2015. The study suggests that the new water was more corrosive and that the old system may not have been properly treated to control corrosion. Researchers compared blood lead levels in children under age 5 in 2013 and 2015. The percentage with high blood lead levels increased from 2.4 percent to 4.9 percent. Separately, the highest water-lead readings were found in neighborhoods where lead levels in the water itself had risen by 6.6 percent.
这些增长主要出现在较贫困的社区。世界卫生组织表示，尚未确定任何安全的铅暴露水平。它指出，儿童尤其脆弱，即使是少量铅也可能导致长期健康和发育问题。马斯克的捐助是如何达成的马斯克最初在2018年7月通过Twitter向弗林特提供帮助。弗林特社区学区于2018年10月5日宣布，马斯克及马斯克基金会捐赠了480,350美元。
Most of the gains were in the poorer neighborhoods. The World Health Organization says no safe level of lead exposure has been identified. It says children are especially vulnerable and that even small quantities can cause long-term health and developmental problems. How Musk's donation came togetherMusk initially offered Flint help on Twitter in July 2018. Flint Community Schools announced a donation of $480,350 from Musk and the Musk Foundation on October 5, 2018.
这笔钱用于学校饮水喷泉的紫外线过滤系统。学区表示，这些过滤器能去除水中的铅和细菌。它还表示，这些系统采用的过滤技术与弗林特医院和高校使用的相同。
The money was for ultraviolet water filtration systems on school drinking fountains. The district said the filters would remove lead and bacteria from the water. It also said the systems use the same filtration used in hospitals and colleges in Flint.
当时的学区总督德里克·洛佩兹称学校的安全、清洁饮用水是一项基本权利，并表示新系统将帮助学生恢复正常作息。为何等待时间如此之长饮水机并未立即投入使用。学区最初预计工作将在2019年1月底前完成。但原始过滤器表现不稳定且从未获得认证，学区也无法联系到制造商进行维修。凯特林大学工程师开始寻找替代过滤器，而这一搜索及其所需的测试，随后因2020年新冠疫情爆发而进一步延迟，疫情限制了对学校和实验室的访问。
Then-superintendent Derrick Lopez called safe, clean water at school a basic right and said the new systems would help students resume normal routines. Why the wait was so longThe fountains were not turned on immediately. The district initially anticipated that the work would be completed by the end of January 2019. Instead, the original filters proved inconsistent and were never certified, and the district could not reach the manufacturer to fix them. Kettering University engineers began searching for a replacement filter, and that search, along with the testing it required, was then further delayed when COVID-19 hit in 2020 and limited access to the schools and labs.
此外，学区自2016年以来一直向校舍供应瓶装水。凯特林大学进行了过滤器的测试。工程学教授劳拉·苏利文表示，这些过滤器是必要的，因为学校内部部分管道含有铅。这意味着希望学生能再次从饮水机饮水的家庭们经历了漫长的等待。学生终于能再次饮水的那天2022年2月8日，弗林特社区学区在西南古典学院举行仪式，揭幕新过滤饮水机。
In addition, the district has supplied bottled water in school buildings since 2016. Kettering University conducted the testing of the filters. According to Laura Sullivan, an engineering professor, these filters were necessary since some plumbing inside the schools contains lead. That meant a long wait for families who wanted students to drink from a fountain again. The day students could finally drink againOn February 8, 2022, Flint Community Schools conducted a ceremony at Southwestern Classical Academy for unveiling the new filtered water fountains.
学区总督凯文·琼斯是第一个从新饮水机饮水的人。当地新闻媒体《弗林特节拍》报道，这是多年来首次有人能够安全地从弗林特学校饮水机饮水。测试确认新系统已安装并正常运行。苏利文表示，饮水机出水未检测出铅。同一样本显示，进入饮水机的水中铅含量在不同建筑及同一建筑内部差异较大。此事告诉我们马斯克的捐赠只是弗林特漫长复苏之路的一部分，它无法弥补对儿童造成的伤害。
The superintendent, Kevelin Jones, was the first person to drink from the new fountains. Flint Beat, a local news outlet, reported it was the first time in years that someone had safely drunk from a Flint school fountain. Tests confirmed the new system was installed and functioning. Water from the fountains had no detectable lead, Sullivan said. The same sampling showed that lead levels in water entering the fountains varied widely across and within buildings. What this story tells usMusk's donation was just one part of Flint's long road to recovery, and it could not undo the harm done to the children.
2016年的研究指出，老化基础设施正日益成为儿童通过饮水接触铅的一个日益增长的因素，表明弗林特的风险并非独一无二。
The 2016 study points to aging infrastructure as a growing contributor to childhood lead exposure through water, suggesting Flint's risk is not unique.
沙利文说，虽然安全用水很重要，但更重要的是让人们相信它是安全的。对于全球阅读此内容的年轻人，道理很简单。询问你的学校、工作场所或城市如何检测其水质，并要求查看检测结果。
Sullivan said that while safe water is important, it is even more important that people believe it is safe. For young adults reading this around the world, the lesson is simple. Ask how your school, workplace, or city tests its water, and ask to see the results.