FLINT, Mich. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged parents in Flint, Michigan, to ensure their children were tested for lead in their blood even as he sought to assure the community that filtered water in the city was safe for anyone over the age of six.

Obama said it would take more than two years to replace water pipes in the city, which is struggling with the effects of lead-poisoned drinking water. The president also sipped filtered water during a meeting with regulators there.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner, editing by G Crosse)