March 8, 2022

AI Helps Small City Pull Toxic Lead Water Service Lines from the Ground Faster

Benton Harbor, Mich., needs to exhume thousands of corroded lines, and a machine learning algorithm is helping to figure out where to dig first.

By Aaron Martin edited by Jeffery DelViscio

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

BENTON HARBOR, Mich.—This is a city in crisis.

“You can’t drink the water. You can’t brush your teeth with the water. You can’t cook with the water.... You can’t make baby formula with the water,” says Reverend Edward Pinkney, president of the Benton Harbor Community Water Council.

The community’s water is not safe to drink because it contains potentially toxic amounts of lead. Citizens must rely on bottled water for their daily needs.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

Residents of Benton Harbor complained for years about the safety of the water, but few actions were taken. In September 2021 the Benton Harbor Community Water Council and others filed a petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calling for it to secure a source of safe drinking water for the community. The petition also calls for the replacement of the lead service lines running into the city’s homes.

But first they have to be found. Enter BlueConduit, a company based in Ann Arbor, Mich., that has developed an algorithm to help communities locate their lead service lines. The algorithm weighs variables such as a home’s age, location and proximity to water infrastructure to generate a prediction about whether that home has a lead service line. The more information the algorithm receives, the more accurate its predictions become.

“We're in a situation in Benton Harbor where there is a public health emergency. And so each additional day that residents are living with the risk of having a lead service line is increasing their risk of exposure to lead,” says Ian Robinson, BlueConduit’s president.

Michigan has set a spring 2023 deadline to replace all of the lead service lines in Benton Harbor. Pinkney thinks the work should go faster. “We only have 6,000 pipelines. We should be able to complete this in six months—if you are serious about getting Benton Harbor clean, safe water.”

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.

If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.

Thank you,

David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American