--- 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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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6e3a1c52-737d-49c4-96b5-346c3dc58f26&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## 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, 2016 Carlos 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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