In April, a nearly 50-year-old agreement with the City of Detroit to purchase drinking water will come to an end.

According to MLive, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling discussed preparations for the city to begin getting its drinking water from the Flint River. The City of Detroit gave notice last year that they would end the agreement to supply drinking water after Flint agreed to join the Kargnondia Water Authority and begin purchasing 18 million gallons of water a day near the end of 2016 when the pipeline is completed.

MLive says the Flint River hadn't been an option due to upgrades to the City's water plant being deemed to expensive. Additionally, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality wouldn't allow it.

During the State of City address on Monday, Walling noted that "due to the eventual increase in use of our Flint water treatment plant, upgrades have been made to meet the standards of continuous operation. Instead of paying the bill to Detroit, we are investing in Flint's infrastructure and capacity in an efficient manner."

Flint water had been being treated at the plant four times a year under a state mandate to make sure the facility could serve as an emergency backup source of water for Flint and Genesee County.

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