An environmental company with a Cocoa facility is trying to help the people of Flint, Michigan deal with their water crisis, and the City of Cocoa is pitching in.

On Thursday the city donated 10 pallets of bottled water (roughly 17,280 bottles) as part of Elastec’s Operation W.E.T.

Elastec makes pollution control systems with a focus on oil spill recovery. The Illinois-based company has a facility in Cocoa and is collecting bottled water at the company’s locations in Illinois and Cocoa.

So far Elastec says it has collected 21 pallets of water, along with cash and water case donations. The water drive runs through Friday.

The Flint water crisis

The city of Flint is in the midst of a water crisis that is affecting residents’ health.

In April 2014, the state of Michigan, which was in control of the city of Flint’s budget because of a financial emergency, switched Flint’s water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure.  A new supply line to Lake Huron was under construction at the time.

It turns out the water from the Flint River was highly corrosive. Since aging services lines to Flint are made of lead, the corrosion leached lead into the water that was flowing into the city’s homes.

The situation had been going on for over a year before a local pediatrician reported high levels of lead in children coming into her practice.

Critics say the state’s Dept. of Environmental Quality should have treated the water in accordance with federal law. That did not happen.

Flint residents are suing Michigan.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Dept. of Homeland Security are leading the federal response to the crisis with water and temporary housing and home repairs. But residents are desparate for clean water for cooking and cleaning.

To find out how you can donate through Elastec, head to the Operation W.E.T. website.