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Washington DC Water Crisis Will Be ’20-30 Times Worse’ Than In Flint, Professor Predicted In 2016

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Eric Lieberman Managing Editor
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The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority is advising certain city residents Friday not to drink water available from taps because a problem with the system’s pressure may have led to contamination.

The warning comes roughly two years after Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards predicted that Washington, D.C.’s apparent water crisis will be “20-30 times worse” than in Flint, Michigan — a town that suffered an emergency that gained national attention.

Also known as DC Water for short, the utility estimates that much of the Northwest and some of the Northeast portions of the city may be affected, but adds that there is no confirmation of any contaminants as of yet.

Authorities were able to detect a loss of pressure in the pipes, which means they are susceptible to toxic impurities. Now, the organization is advising all “affected customers” to boil water if they need to consume it from a tap.

Edwards was praised for bringing attention to the highly infamous water problems in Flint. He appeared before Congress, blaming the federal government for mishandling the situation there. But, during his trip to the nation’s capital, he told Inside Sources that he believes the relatively big city is way worse off.

Calling it “a nightmare,” Edwards said that water pollution in D.C. has been a problem since at least the turn of the 21st century. He calculated that when contamination levels peaked in 2004, they were three times the levels seen in Flint, and six and a half times as many people were exposed for double the amount of time.

Thousands of lead pipes are to blame, said Edwards, who also published a study in 2009. The study’s conclusion challenged D.C. health officials’ claims the city’s water is for the most part safe. He determined that many young children throughout the city had “damaging amounts” of lead in their blood, according to Inside Sources, which can cause irreparable IQ loss, and other developmental and intellectual issues. (RELATED: McCain Amends Water Resource Bill To Expand FBI Surveillance)

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to DC Water for comment on the current situation, as well as Edwards’ past predictions, but it failed to respond by time of publication.

An automated email response from a senior executive coordinator who is apparently out of office signed off with the motto “Water is Life!”

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