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For most Americans, access to clean drinking water is taken for granted. But that’s not the case with Abbie Nez. The 77-year-old has lived for decades in a one-room Hogan in Navajo Nation with no running water or electricity.

Even though Lake Powell, the nation’s second largest reservoir, is near Nez’s home, she has to drive to Page, Arizona, to buy water for cooking and bathing.

“We’re right there. We’re less than five miles away and there’s no running water,” said her daughter, Sheila Emmons. “It’s sad to see her mother running every day complaining about being sweaty and hot.”

This is not a new problem. About a third of Navajo residents live without running water in their homes. They are forced to collect rain from their roofs or bring back tanks of water from faraway cities.

Despite the fact that much of the reservation borders the Colorado River, the tribe was never legally allowed to draw water from it. Just last week, the Navajo lost a battle in the U.S. Supreme Court for improved water rights.

As the tribe searches for solutions, new technology has emerged to help people like Nezu.

Her garden has two solar-powered machines that suck water vapor from the air and produce more than a gallon of drinking water every day. They are called hydropanels.

“I was a little skeptical when they said, ‘You can get water out of the air.’ You can make drinking water, too.” That was it,” says Jerry Williams, a local leader who works for Source Global, which makes the machine.

With his help, the tribal government purchased panels for about 540 households, reducing the need for people to drive to town to buy water.

A ‘solution book’ to solve the climate crisis

Nezu’s family says the technology, while a blessing, isn’t perfect.

Recently, one of the many dogs that live on her property chewed on a wire and she was not drinking any water. The company says the panel is being repaired.

“The water challenge has been around for a long time,” said Cody Friesen, CEO of Source Global Inc. headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona. , the situation will get worse,” he said.

Friesen says hydropanels have been installed in 52 countries, and even in extremely dry places like Arizona, there is enough water vapor in the air to collect for drinking.

If all the water in the atmosphere fell at once, the entire earth would be covered in an inch of rain. according to scientists At the US Geological Service.

“You’re talking about atmospheric seas of water vapor, untapped resources,” Friesen explains.

Depending on the model, hydropanels cost between $2,000 and $3,000, which is too high and unaffordable for many rural residents. Friesen hopes that price will come down, and he has little doubt that using steam in places like the Southwest will help people living there.

Decades of drought and overuse threatened to rupture the Colorado River. As reservoirs have dwindled over the past few years, cities and farms in the region are considering drastic restrictions on water supply.

Friesen said even households connected to water utilities would benefit from limiting their reliance on overburdened infrastructure.

“It’s an open question how to move forward when you’re not sure where that water will come from in a year, 10 years and beyond,” he says.

Friesen said the hydropanels are part of the “big book of solutions” the world needs to reverse the effects of the climate crisis. However, not everyone is so convinced.

Alex Mayer, director of the Center for Environmental Resource Management at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the panels are too expensive and don’t produce enough water to make a big difference.

“A few gallons a day isn’t a lot for one person,” he says. “I think you could buy more hydropanels, but I doubt that’s a long-term solution.”

Meyer said he wished the panels were more productive. He predicts a difficult future in El Paso. His research suggests that the demand for water in the region will increase as temperatures rise with climate change. As pressure on freshwater supplies increases, water bills will skyrocket, Mayer said.

“Maybe five times as many,” he says. “That’s pretty scary. For poor families without a steady income, bills arriving at that time each month can be a huge burden.”

Visit the Colonies of Texas

Water scarcity in the arid regions of the West is a problem many organizations have been working hard to solve. In rural El Paso County, Texas, an organization called Dig Deep is trying to bring more permanent water infrastructure into the community. Colonia.

Dig deep in December Completed a project at Cochrane We connected 22 households to the local power company. And suddenly the city grows.

“It’s nice to have new neighbors,” says Jack Duran, Dig Deep’s project assistant who also grew up in Cochrane. A new house was being built next to Durand’s on a recent afternoon.

“Dawn, water. Boom, new neighbors,” he notes of how quickly life is changing.

Durand’s family now has a washing machine. No more paying $170 a month for her 2,500-gallon tank in the backyard in the summer. The monthly water bill is about $45.

“Honestly, I never expected this to happen,” he says. “But we were able to get the job done.”

Dig Deep estimates that: Over 2 million people in the U.S. don’t have running water at home. The group’s research shows that race and economic status are the main predictors. Black and Latino households are twice as likely to lack indoor plumbing compared to white households, he said. He is 19 times more likely to run out of running water in a Native American home.

Cochrane is one of many colonies along the Texas-Mexico border that were developed decades ago without basic public facilities. Many, like Durand’s family, have been promised water for years.

Local agencies have made progress in recent years, but the cost of connecting some rural areas remains too high, said Kathryn Lucero, Dig Deep’s Colonia project manager.

“To this day, 20 percent of the county’s residents are without water,” says Lucero. “Whether it’s Kocholan or another waterless part of Texas, [the mentality is] It’s cheaper to move your family to the city than to invest in a water utility. ”

But Lucero says “Dig deep” teeth to invest. Construction to connect Cochrane with utilities will cost $1.2 million, and the investment will secure Cochrane’s future for years to come, she added.

Lucero recognizes technologies like hydropanels, but agrees with UTEP’s Mayer. “They are temporary solutions.”

“Wow” at Huco Tanks, Texas

Olga Thomas, who gets her energy from the West Texas sun, is thrilled to hear the sound of fresh water flowing from her new hydropanels. She lives in a colonia called Hueco Tanks and takes care of the bougainvillea that blooms in her garden.

For more than 40 years, it has been difficult to get water to this quiet part of the desert. Hueco Tanks are miles from the nearest city and Thomas still has to deliver water to his home.

Then, late last year, Source Global paid to install two panels in the garden. Thomas says he can drink about 3 gallons of water on a sunny day. This is enough for drinking and cooking.

“Mentally, there is no stress,” she says. “Simply because I don’t have to worry about having to go to the store and buy a bottle of water. Is it enough? Are the stores open?”

Five years later, Thomas will be responsible for paying the panel’s upkeep. The 72-year-old knows that utilities are unlikely to install permanent water infrastructure in her community.

“I tell my kids, ‘Let’s hang in there with water and see if you guys can do better than us,'” she says of the uncertain future and a warming climate. .

But on a hot June morning, there is enough fresh water to quench your thirst. She opens the faucet on the side of the hydropanel and takes her drink.

“That’s great,” she said with a look of surprise in her voice.