One thing which is causally related was the massive decreases in lead poisoning cases and related ailments during that time.
Until people start dying in droves, that is.
Kinda hard to keep a thing like that a secret.
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The cool thing about lead contamination of water pipes, though, is that it is so much more neatly targeted than atmospheric lead pollution.
If properly managed(never let a good crisis go to waste!) we can avoid infrastructure spending on filthy poors we don’t like anyway; and then reap ‘objective’ statistical evidence of their animalistic inferiority as their markedly higher lead exposure results in a few generations of neurologically compromised people.
There may be a few tricky locations where undesirables and Real Americans exist in close proximity and share infrastructure; but that can hopefully be solved via some sort of tax incentive for onsite water filters that is much easier for homeowners to take advantage of and much harder for renters.
So, yes, there is a definite potential for increase in crime; but we can do so much better this time! We’ll be able to selectively impose the burdens of crime, cognitive impairment, learning disabilities, etc. with the same sort of geographic precision that Dr. Snow made so famous with his stuff about cholera and drinking water.
(Please note; I Do Not endorse any of the above; but find it unpleasantly difficult to convince myself that it wouldn’t be a wildly popular proposal in the correct circles.)
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In a lot of areas, it is actually illegal to capture and store rain water because of water rights issues and ownership.
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And people laugh(ed) when I tell them that I’m glad I have well water at my house.
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Well see, the genius of the water tanks i’m talking about is that it taps into the water utility. So when water is available it fills and circulates what’s in the tank first and then feeds into the home. When water availability is disrupted you just continue to use it as normal since it’s gravity fed, no pumps needed.
Though to your point, if collecting rain water is legal that’s also a similar system but rain fed obviously. But would require a pump as far as i know… unless it’s being used to water the grass/plants.
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With that kind of thinking, you should be getting a government appointment.
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Let’s see what he does with this proposal.
Funnily enough McConnell is against any plan that involves spending any money.
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Ah! I did not know that. That’s good!
It sounds a lot because the US is huge. If a smaller country had to spend 100 million dollars on their water pipes it would still be a fairly small outlay per head of population and they would go ahead and do it. Its just that large countries seem to have more scope to agonize over things, so it takes longer for stuff to get done.
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It gets handled regionally and/or locally as far as planning and budgeting goes. However most states and cities put their various infrastructures low on their priorities because they’d rather spend the money elsewhere. But now we’re in a damn mess…
On the flip side, i work for a publicly traded gas utility and we don’t get the luxury of waiting because the results of neglecting bad pipe is very… immediate.
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Gas pipes in my street were recently renewed in an interesting way. They pushed new pipes through the existing pipes, presumably running the system at a higher pressure to maintain flow. I wonder if they can do the same thing with water. Older systems generally have a higher cross sectional area, with lower pressure.
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They did an insert, yes 
I’m familiar with that. It depends on what pressure the system has been running vs the diameter of the original pipe, there are situations where you can do an insert to avoid tearing up the majority of the street and the smaller diameter may still be adequate to serve the area.
I generally try to coordinate inserts whenever possible. unless you know you’re at the smallest possible diameter and there’s potential in the future for an increased load. Then you say fuck it and tear up the area to put in pipe.
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FYI and in the name of levity, INFRA is -50% on Steam. Sounds like you and many others in this thread would really enjoy it:
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Someone will make money. Don’t know if the pipes will get fixed.
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Hey guise! Trump fixed Flint! That was easy. Only two weeks ago, federal officials were predicting it’d be a year before the water’s lead levels would be safe to use without filters. But now it’s all okay!
I’m sure the federal limits haven’t changed overnight or anything. Of course, we can’t tell, because the EPA has a gag order. Coincidence I’m sure.
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Because you’re all about improving the nation, and having a significant portion of your neighbors acting under the effects of long-term lead poisoning is the sort of thing that we can fairly classify as “A Bad Thing”.
Also, because we’re human beings, and human beings look out for each other, and keep each other from being poisoned.
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Amazing how much work can get done in just a few days!
Residents of Flint, please don’t stop using your water filters.
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So long as it’s at the statistical spike level, the people who lack skills in numeracy will never notice.
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