That&#x27;s really not the problem that Flint had, it&#x27;s quite possible to treat water so that it&#x27;s potable and in fact the water leaving Flint&#x27;s treatment plants was perfectly drinkable.  The problem is that Flint hadn&#x27;t operated it&#x27;s own water supply for 40 years and the people in charge thought that having drinkable water leave their plant meant that their job was done.  But really preventing the water from rusting the iron main pipes and dissolving lead from the distribution pipes requires another layers of work involving controlling pH and other stuff that wasn&#x27;t being done.