Flint mayor: City needs 2 years before it can treat its own water

Flint has been mired in a devastating water crisis for nearly three years, and it may be another two before it's resolved.

Mayor Karen Weaver wrote to EPA officials earlier this week to inform them that the Michigan city will not be able to treat its own water for lead and other contaminants until 2019, citing a lengthy construction and testing process for a new water treatment plant.

"To expedite completion of the project and minimize cost, a design/build project delivery method is proposed," Weaver wrote. "Based on this approach, an August, 2019, completion date is anticipated for the treatment plant improvements."

In 2014, officials implemented a cost-cutting plan to switch the city's water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River, which is 19 times more corrosive, according to researchers from Virginia Tech. That caused lead to leach from pipes and into the city's drinking water.

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