Water Blogged

We are so grateful for DigDeep’s incredible support and continued partnership. We are pleased to share this update from our implementing partner, DigDeep, about the impact of their water delivery program, which received funding from H2O for Life during the 2023-24 school year!

DIGDEEP’S NAVAJO WATER PROJECT
Across the Navajo Nation, 30% of households do not have running water or basic plumbing, making it a priority area for DigDeep to bring clean, running water access to individuals and families who are currently living without it. We are solving this issue through a host of off-grid and centralized solutions that address each of our client’s unique needs. Since its beginning in 2014, DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project has brought improved water and sanitation services to 3,431 households and 8,761 individuals across the Navajo Nation and has been nationally recognized as the recipient of the 2018 US Water Prize.

Today, we work in 35 Navajo chapters across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah in partnership with local tribal leaders and communities. DigDeep’s Home Water System is an off-grid solution that brings hot and cold running water to homes without access to water or sewer lines. Each system consists of a 1,200-gallon polyethylene cistern buried underground, a water pump, a pressure tank, a water heater, a water filter, a deep-basin sink, and a drain field. DigDeep installs either an electric pump system or a solar pump system, depending on whether the home is  connected to the power grid or not. The Navajo Water Project also supports water line connections to homes with the capability of being connected to centralized water systems and brings safe sanitation to households through septic installations, repair and cleanings and other solutions.

For homes equipped with off-grid Home Water Systems or other storage tanks, we provide monthly water delivery service via food-grade trucks outfitted with a 3,000-gallon tank of safe drinking water. DigDeep’s water trucks access water from an existing Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (the Navajo Nation’s only water utility) water hauling station.

IMPACT OF H2O FOR LIFE’S SUPPORT
Access to clean, running water helps to create increased economic security, improved physical and mental health, and an overall better quality of life. Having clean water affords residents of the Navajo Nation the dignity that most people in the U.S. already enjoy. Since the Navajo Water Project began, DigDeep has met the needs of more than 2,200 households on the Navajo Nation for clean, running water through the installation of Home Water Systems or the provision of water tanks, and the delivery of water to these homes. During the period of this report, from September 2023 through August 2024, DigDeep delivered more than 1 million gallons of clean water to residents across the Navajo Nation, thereby filling the Home Water System tanks and other water tanks of 3,609 households.

We are enormously grateful to H2O for Life’s generous support, which provided funding for us to deliver to nearly 300 of the Navajo households.

HERBERT’S STORY
Herbert is a resident of Thoreau, New Mexico, whose journey with DigDeep began in early 2023. Herbert was introduced to DigDeep by his brother, who had previously received a Home Water System through DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project. In search of guidance for his homesite lease and the urgent need for running water, Herbert contacted the Navajo Water Project. He aimed to navigate the lease process on his family’s land, which lacked fundamental utilities such as water and electricity. Then, our water and solar technicians got to work installing a solar-powered Home Water System in Herbert’s cabin. Now, with the turn of the tap, Herbert has access to clean, hot and cold running water at home. He looks forward to simple pleasures like making coffee to enjoy on his front porch and taking in the views of the mesas surrounding his family’s land.

We believe that having clean, running water and sanitation is a human right, and we won’t stop until every household in the U.S. has it. We are deeply grateful to H2O for Life for supporting our work to make this vision a reality on the Navajo Nation.