--- title: Obama Drinks Filtered Flint Tap Water to Show It's Safe description: Obama says that, at this point, Flint water is safe if using a filter. canonical: https://time.com/4318358/obama-drinks-flint-tap-water/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-04T19:33:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:39.472Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Drinks Filtered Flint Tap Water to Show It's Safe og:description: "If you're using a filter... then Flint water at this point is drinkable" og:url: https://time.com/4318358/obama-drinks-flint-tap-water/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b7d3e5913294e13/698891e92dce015b9b9e8ed9/obama-flint-water.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: U.S. President Barack Obama drinks a glass of filtered water from Flint, a city struggling with the effects of lead-poisoned drinking water, during a meeting will local and federal authorities in Michigan og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Drinks Filtered Flint Tap Water to Show It's Safe twitter:description: "If you're using a filter... then Flint water at this point is drinkable" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b7d3e5913294e13/698891e92dce015b9b9e8ed9/obama-flint-water.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Drinks Filtered Flint Tap Water to Show It's Safe > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: 8-year-old's Letter inspires Obama to Plan to Visit Flint [Watch (HLS stream): 8-year-old's Letter inspires Obama to Plan to Visit Flint](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WNZEpLGY.m3u8) (1:32)  _Published 2016-04-28. Amariyanna Copeny wrote President Barack Obama asking to meet him. He responded by planning a trip to her hometown of Flint to discuss the Flint water crisis._ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White May 4, 2016 7:33 PM UTC  President Obama drinks a glass of filtered water from Flint during a meeting will local and federal authorities in Michigan, on May 4, 2016 President Obama drinks a glass of filtered water from Flint during a meeting will local and federal authorities in Michigan, on May 4, 2016Carlos Barria—Reuters by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White May 4, 2016 7:33 PM UTC President Barack Obama drank filtered Flint, Michigan tap water [to show the water is safe to drink](http://bigstory.ap.org/5240da8aca5e44e8800d5a1d31dbd735) after the city’s water supply faced a contamination crisis. After a briefing on the federal response to the [city’s lead water crisis](http://time.com/4309664/obama-flint-water-crisis-copeny-email/), Obama was asked by a reporter to drink the glass of Flint tap water and the president obliged, the Associated Press reports. “This used a filter,” Obama said. “The water around this table was Flint water and it just confirms what we know scientifically, which is, if you’re using a filter, if you’re installing it, then Flint water at this point is drinkable.” Obama is visiting Flint to show the federal government’s continued commitment to the city. The president, who [declared a state of emergency](http://time.com/4185596/flint-obama-mayor-water-lead/) in Flint in January following revelations of lead contamination in the water, came to visit the city after eight-year-old Amariyanna Copeny [who him a letter](http://time.com/4317309/barack-obama-flint-water-crisis-visit/) asking Obama to speak to residents in person. “A meeting from you or your wife would really lift people’s spirits,” Copeny wrote. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4318358/obama-drinks-flint-tap-water/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4318358/obama-drinks-flint-tap-water/"},"headline":"Obama Drinks Filtered Flint Tap Water to Show It's Safe","datePublished":"2016-05-04T19:33:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:39.472Z","description":"\"If you're using a filter, if you're installing it, then Flint water at this point is drinkable\"","url":"https://time.com/4318358/obama-drinks-flint-tap-water/","keywords":["Barack Obama","Michigan","Obama","Flint","Flint Water Crisis"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b7d3e5913294e13/698891e92dce015b9b9e8ed9/obama-flint-water.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b7d3e5913294e13/698891e92dce015b9b9e8ed9/obama-flint-water.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Barack Obama drinks a glass of filtered water from Flint, a city struggling with the effects of lead-poisoned drinking water, during a meeting will local and federal authorities in Michigan","caption":"U.S. President Barack Obama drinks a glass of filtered water from Flint, a city struggling with the effects of lead-poisoned drinking water, during a meeting will local and federal authorities in Michigan","creditText":"Carlos Barria—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4318358/obama-drinks-flint-tap-water/","name":"Obama Drinks Filtered Flint Tap Water to Show It's Safe"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"8-year-old's Letter inspires Obama to Plan to Visit Flint","description":"Amariyanna Copeny wrote President Barack Obama asking to meet him. 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