According to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), higher levels of lead in Flint, MI, tap water reported during the first half of 2022 are the result of expanded testing to include more businesses with lead service lines.   While still below the 90 percentile level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) requiring action, it was the second consecutive period showing an increase from 3 ppb during the six months of 2021 followed by 7 ppb during the last half of that year.

Federal regulations require all public water systems to be tested regularly for lead and copper content and for municipalities to lower levels of lead when that content exceeds 15 ppm for 90 percent of all systems tested.  In 2025, Michigan's Lead and Copper Rule action level becomes even more stringent, dropping from 15 ppb to 12 ppb.

Previously, the amount of lead in Flint water systems reached a critical high of 20 ppb during the first six months of 2016.  Since then, however, city officials have determined measurements taken before and after that time were inaccurate because they failed to concentrate on homes known to have lead service lines as mandated. 

As a result of a city-wide program to eliminate service lines made of lead and galvanized steel, approximately 95 percent of residential sites in Flint are no longer eligible to be included in testing which is why the latest survey was broadened to include businesses.

In the aftermath of Flint's 1916 water crisis, Michigan enacted the most rigorous lead content regulations in the country requiring all state water systems to replace roughly five percent of their lead service lines per year through 2038.
 
As a result of these efforts, EGLE clean drinking water advocate, Kris Donaldson, stated in a recent release issued by the state, that "As Flint nears completion of its lead service line replacement program, we are seeing clear evidence that the focus will need to shift to interior plumbing and continued education on how to reduce lead exposures in the in the home as outlined on the state's Mi Lead Safe (michigan.gov/mileadsafe) web site."