Late last week, I happened to watch a television program where environmental activist Erin Brockovich weighed in regarding the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. As that conversation progressed, it led to me considering, "While it's obvious that Flint failed, what's going on elsewhere?" Regardless of your politics, certainly everyone will agree that Flint is a dangerous situation and corrective and preventative actions needs to be taken...well, a long time ago.

I convened a research team and, as we reviewed bid activity for the past 365 days, it came as little surprise that the activity level for water treatment-related bids from Flint, Michigan, was "minimal". Minimal, as in, one bid request that is somewhere amid the water treatment spectrum. Elsewhere in the United States and Canada, other government, public sector entities have been comparably busy when it comes to purchase of water treatment services, solutions, and products. In the same 365 day period, there were 483 bid requests from U.S. and Canadian governments. Make note, that number is isolated to with "water treatment" specifically in the bid title. To be clear, there are a myriad of other similar, applicable bids.

The Flint drinking water contamination mess actually began in April, 2014. It was around that time, that the terrible decision was put into effect to switch the city’s drinking water source. On January 14th, 2016, President Obama declared a state of emergency and ordered federal aid to supplement the state and local response efforts. As reported by Reuters, there are substantial costs involved with making the necessary repairs to Flint's water treatment infrastructure, 'Cost to fix Flint water infrastructure could reach $1.5 billion: reports'.

Based on recent reports, it is apparent that those responsible for the contamination and resulting health concerns will be held accountable. Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that state and federal officials are preparing to investigate and identify the culprits.

To review these bid requests, for information on the industry, or to compare your current bid service, contact us at 1.888.808.5356 or visit www.BidPrime.com.