The city of Flint has belatedly rewritten water testing instructions that have been blamed for the gross underestimation of its lead pollution crisis, with the Michigan government to be sued this week over its continued support for the distorted tests revealed by the Guardian.  Related: 'It's all just poison now': Flint reels as families struggle through water crisis  People in Flint have been complaining about their water since the summer of 2014. Until December 2015, officials in the city were handing out instructions to residents which said they should test their drinking water only after they had had turned on the “cold faucet of your kitchen or main bathroom sink and let it run for three to four minutes”.  This practice of “pre-flushing” pipes has been criticized by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and other scientists for reducing the amount of lead and copper corrosion found in samples.  Analysis conducted by the Virginia Tech scientists Marc Edwards, Rebekah Martin, and Min Tang, who were among the first to uncover the toxic water crisis in Flint, found that of 21 Flint households tested under these altered conditions, 16 showed much higher lead levels when their water was tested normally.  “The differences in the tests are profound,” Edwards said. “If Flint had followed the test protocols, people would have immediately got instructions on how to keep themselves and their children safe.  Because of the smoke-and-mirrors testing, Flint is meeting the standard even as national guardsman walk the street  “Instead, the state, with the EPA’s blessing, said that the water is safe. Because of the smoke-and-mirrors testing, Flint is meeting the standard even as national guardsman walk the street. This shows what a sham the EPA has allowed its tests to become. They are condoning cheating.”  Following a lawsuit lodged in November by Flint residents, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, Flint rewrote its testing instructions to remove mention of pre-flushing.  The new advice, however, does ask residents to pour water into sample bottles “gently” – another technique thought to be misleading because it reduces the amount of lead and other material that is dislodged from pipes by a strong flow of water.  The Michigan department of environmental quality, meanwhile, still advises residents across the state to turn on their taps for several minutes before taking a test.  The state is set to be sued over this, and its alleged failure to remedy the crisis, on Wednesday, as part of a wider class action involving more than 500 Flint residents.  The lawsuit follows the Guardian’s revelation on Friday of widespread distortion of tests across the US by city water authorities charged with following the EPA’s lead and copper rule. Although not illegal, the “gamed” tests have been singled out for criticism by the EPA. The regulator has so far declined to stamp out the practice.  Edwards said the Virginia Tech tests on Flint water show “remarkably different” results compared with the altered versions done by officials in Michigan. In some cases, the lead corrosion content for water going into households was five times the federal limit of 15 parts per billion.  It is understood that the EPA will this week sample homes in Flint considered to be high risk because of their lead piping. These tests will be done under standard conditions, replicating the way that people access water normally, rather than with the pipes flushed first.  Melissa Mays, a Flint resident who is part of the lawsuit challenging Michigan’s testing methods, said her family, which includes her husband and three sons, has all become ill because of the toxic, discolored water.  Related: 'Please do not drink the water': Flint in crisis – in pictures  “These tests are unrealistic – who runs their faucet for five minutes before going to bed if they want to drink the water the next morning?” said Mays, who is currently on sick leave. “They have been using a loophole and people have got poisoned.  “The city has changed the testing but the state hasn’t. We want the state to knock it off and do the right thing. The EPA also need to close these loopholes in the lead and copper rule.  “All of my family are anaemic. We’ve tested positive for lead and copper. We have liver problems because of the toxins in our systems and breathing issues, too, because metals are released when we have showers.  “Every day is a new thing. I’m having seizures and my son has brittle bones because the lead strips away the calcium. Everyone I know is sick.”  The EPA and the Michigan state government failed to respond to repeated requests for comment on the controversial tests and the state’s decision not to switch to standardized testing.
Michigan city’s instructions called on residents to ‘pre-flush’ pipes, a process criticized by federal authorities for reducing levels of toxins detected