ROCHESTER, NY (September 29, 2022) — The Nalgene Water Fund (NWF) today announces a new design within the “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) limited-edition series created by Diné designer Jaden Redhair.  Five dollars of every bottle sale will continue to go toward supporting local nonprofits addressing the water crisis on the Navajo Nation. 

According to The Navajo Water Project, 30% of Navajo families live without running water. Incredibly, they are 67 times more likely than other Americans to live without running water or a toilet. Nalgene Outdoor partnered with Redhair in 2020 to create the first artist-designed, limited-edition bottle for the NWF. After record sales and multiple rounds of reprints, the NWF has donated nearly $80,000, to date, to two nonprofit partners on the Navajo Nation that work to make safe drinking water more accessible, DigDeep and Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE).

“I’m so pleased that my passion for design can educate so many people outside of the Navajo Nation about the essential role of water in our culture and continue to help raise funds toward improving access to clean water for our people,” says Redhair, age 22, an accomplished Navajo artist and recent Stanford University graduate, born for the Jemez Clan. 

The new limited-edition “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) bottle is available exclusively at Nalgene.com and retails for $20. The 32-ounce Sustain bottle is made from Eastman’s Tritan Renew material derived from 50% recycled plastic. Like all Nalgene bottles, it is leakproof, dishwasher-safe and ready for all of life’s everyday adventures.

“We’re thankful to have partners like Jaden Redhair who can create amazing designs and DigDeep and COPE who can immediately put the money into the Navajo community creating jobs, installing water systems, and benefiting the Navajo people,” says Elissa McGee, general manager, Nalgene Outdoor.

The NWF supports domestic communities struggling with access to clean water by partnering with grassroots nonprofits to raise funds and awareness. As Nalgene Outdoor proudly makes its products in the USA, the fund aims to support local communities. NWF donations are not just monetary, but also in-kind support with a focus on benefiting the community and infrastructure for future success. Nalgene Outdoor created the reusable water bottle category over 50 years ago with a simple idea that we can refill drinking water in reusable containers to help the environment. Yet, clean water for all is critical to this mission.  

Since its inception in late 2019, the NWF, with the support of Thermo Fisher Scientific, has contributed more than $650,000 in financial and in-kind donations to programs in Navajo Nation, Benton Harbor, MI and most notably to helping establish the Flint Community Water Lab in Flint, MI, a unique water quality testing program.

DigDeep

DigDeep is a national nonprofit organization working to ensure every American has access to running water and sanitation inside their homes. Thus far, the Nalgene Water Fund has supported DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project , a community-managed utility alternative that brings hot and cold running water to homes on the reservation that are not connected to piped water or sewer lines. The $47,500 donated to date supports DigDeep’s work to install running water inside homes on the Navajo Nation (which spans the corners of Utah, New Mexico and Arizona) and have also helped to fund water truck deliveries, truck maintenance, and staff training, including CDL training that is offered to Navajo technicians wishing to become licensed water truck delivery drivers. DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project is Indigenous-led and locally staffed.

COPE 

Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE) is a non-profit organization working to address health disparities in Navajo Nation through community-based outreach and food security initiatives. During the height of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, the NWF donated nearly $30,000 in critical funding and supplies to help install water refill stations and provide carboys (large vessels) to transport water from source to residence in one container. Recently, the NWF donated an additional $3,000 and 100 30-ml Nalgene sampling bottles to help fund a new pilot COPE program. The “Student Citizen Water Project” empowers six students to collect water samples in Nalgene water bottles in some of Navajo Nation’s most marginalized areas. Data from these results are currently being analyzed to prioritize the placement of the filtered water refill stations donated by the NWF. 

This student-centered approach models The Flint Community Lab, also a recipient of NWF support, and a first-of-its-kind, community-based water testing facility in Flint, Michigan. A novel concept — for the community, by the community — the Lab relies on high school students to collect water samples. A multi-generational approach, this concept builds trust in the process where younger members work side-by-side with elders to help assess water safety. The Flint Community Lab who has generously offered to test the water for COPE using their state-of-the art testing equipment.

You have several younger siblings. What is your hope for them as they continue to grow up on Navajo Nation?
I hope that my siblings strive for their goals and contribute to help the Navajo Nation thrive. They each have their own path and wherever that may lead them, I’ll be there to support them.

You’re an amazing young man! What is your hope for the future?
I hope that through my efforts as a designer and engineer, I inspire more native youth to make it a mission to help their communities in any way they can. We need to take care of our nation so that future generations will persevere and thrive in an ever changing world. Our culture is what holds us together and positive change will have everlasting effects for years to come.

The NWF supports domestic communities struggling with access to clean water by partnering with grassroots nonprofits to raise funds and awareness. As Nalgene Outdoor proudly makes its products in the USA, the fund aims to support local communities. NWF donations are not just monetary, but also in-kind with a focus on benefiting the community and infrastructure for future success. Nalgene Outdoor created the reusable water bottle category over 50 years ago with a simple idea that we can refill drinking water in reusable containers to help the environment. Yet, clean water for all is critical to this mission.

In late 2020, Nalgene Outdoor partnered with Diné designer Jaden Redhair to create a limited-edition “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) bottle, from which $5 of every sale was committed to raise money for solutions to help resolve the water crisis across the Navajo Nation. After record sales and multiple rounds of reprints, the Nalgene Water Fund is pleased to announce that it will donate an additional $36,000 between two nonprofit partners on the Navajo Nation, DigDeep and Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE), bringing the growing total over two years to nearly $80,000 in support.

The majority of the most recent donation will aid DigDeep, a national nonprofit organization working to ensure every American has access to running water and sanitation inside their homes. $33,000 will go directly to DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project , a community-managed utility alternative that brings hot and cold running water to homes on the reservation that are not connected to piped water or sewer lines.  The donation is in addition to nearly $14,500 previously contributed by Nalgene Outdoor to DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project, and will help DigDeep achieve their goal of installing water systems in 200 homes across the Navajo Nation this year. 

Helping 200 Homes Get Running Water

On the Navajo Nation, DigDeep Home Water Systems bring clean, hot and cold running water to homes previously without water access.  First, the Navajo Water Project team installs a 1200-gallon water tank underground at each residence and connects it to basic plumbing inside the home. If the house is not connected to the power grid, the DigDeep team will also install a solar power unit that powers the water system, as well as lights and charging ports inside the home.

The 1200-gallon water tank is buried to prevent freezing and protects the water from contaminants. Inside, the system includes a sink, water heater, filter, expansion tank, pressure gauge, drain line, leach field and, optionally, solar power and lights.

The tanks are refilled by  DigDeep’s network of locally-managed water trucks that transport safe drinking water from EPA-approved water access points to the home.  Water deliveries are another initiative supported by Nalgene Outdoor donations.

Creating Critical Jobs

DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project is Indigenous-led and locally staffed. In addition to supporting Home Water Systems, Nalgene Water Fund donations have also helped to fund staff training, including CDL training that is offered to Navajo technicians wishing to become licensed as water truck delivery drivers, as well as water truck maintenance and deliveries.     

In addition to its support of DigDeep, Nalgene Outdoor’s latest donation will also include an additional $3,000 and 100 30-ml Nalgene sampling bottles to Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE), a non-profit organization working to address health disparities in Navajo Nation through community-based outreach and food security initiatives.

In 2020 and 2021, Nalgene donated nearly $30,000 in critical funding and supplies to COPE. to install water refill stations and provide carboys (large vessels) to transport water from source to residence in one container.  

Nalgene Outdoor’s most recent donation will help fund a new pilot COPE program,  “Student Citizen Water Project” that  will empower six students to collect water samples in Nalgene water bottles in some of Navajo Nation’s most marginalized areas. Data from these results will then prioritize placement of the filtered water refill stations donated by the Nalgene Water Fund.  

This student-centered approach models The Flint Community Lab, also a recipient of Nalgene Water Fund support, and a first of its kind, community-based water testing facility in Flint, Michigan. A unique concept — for the community, by the community — the Lab uses high school students to collect water samples. A multi-generational approach, this concept builds trust in the process where younger members work side-by-side with elders to help assess water safety.

The NWF is proud to connect COPE’s student testing program with The Flint Community Lab who has generously offered to test the water for COPE  using their  state-of-the art testing equipment.

Water is all around us, in many different shapes and forms. It falls from the sky in droplets, gushes through rivers and streams, is frozen in glaciers, and yes, you can fill your Nalgene bottles with water that’s fit for drinking. But have you ever asked yourself: where does water come from, and how exactly does it become safe, clear, and drinkable? Well, we wanted to get to the root of this question, because obviously, water is pretty much the center of our universe. And if you ask us, nothing is better than having a Nalgene bottle full to the brim with delicious crisp drinking water (although maybe we’re a little biased).

While turning on the tap and having a continuous supply of safe and drinkable H20 is a privilege, it’s also not something we’re commonly taught that much about. So where does water come from before it hits your Nalgene bottle? As it turns out, a lot has to happen to it before it actually flows from your kitchen tap.

You probably know that water is pretty important, for our planet and everyone who’s on it. Water makes up about 60% of the human body, and 71% of our planet, but get this: only about 2.5% of Earth’s water is freshwater, which can be readily used for drinking. And out of that, just about 1% is easily accessible, while the rest is locked up in glaciers and other frozen parts of the planet.

How about the rest of Earth’s water? Aside from the 2.5% that is freshwater, everything else is salty ocean water. This might be great for sea creatures, but it’s not as great for humans. That’s because humans are unable to safely drink untreated seawater, due to it’s high levels of salt. This means that most of Earth’s water is undrinkable in its natural form.

You might have heard about desalination techniques, which is the process of turning saltwater into freshwater. While desalination is used around the world today, this technology is still extremely expensive, and these high costs have stopped desalination from becoming used more widely. But many countries that lack abundant supplies of freshwater, such as countries in the Middle East and North Africa, do heavily use desalination, to turn ocean water into something drinkable. In the United States, Florida and California are among the states that have desalination plants.

But in short, most people and places rely on freshwater for their drinking water, which comes mostly from lakes, rivers, and groundwater, and typically has to go through quite the process before it flows through the pipes in your home.

To understand where water comes from before it fills your Nalgene bottle, we need to blow off the dust on some of those middle school science textbooks. The planetary water cycle consists of a few main stages. The sun warms the Earth, causing water to evaporate from the oceans, streams, and lakes, and head up into the atmosphere. Then, that water cools, and falls back down to Earth as rain or snow. This precipitation might collect in rivers, lakes, and in the soil and layers of rock. Much of it will eventually flow back into the oceans.

So where in that lifecycle does your tap water come into play? For most Americans, drinking water is drawn from lakes, rivers, and groundwater, and is brought from those sources to a water treatment plant in your city. Most utility companies then use several steps to treat your water before you drink it. 

Firstly, chemicals are added to the water, which bind with any sediment and dirt, forming a substance called floc. Then, because that floc is heavy, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, while the clean water remains on top and passes through layers of filters. Interestingly enough, these filters are usually made of sand, gravel, and charcoal, which remove particles and chemicals. Lastly, chlorine or a similar substance will be added to kill any germs or parasites left over in the water. It’s also possible for water to come from an individual water system, such as a private well. In these cases, it’s typically up to the owner of that water system to care for it, treat it, and ensure the water is safe for drinking.

As you can see, it takes quite a lot of work for water to be transformed from what’s found in the ground and in the skies into something you can safely sip along the trail.

While you’re out in the world with your Nalgene bottle in hand, you might have noticed that not all waters taste the same, and that there are many different names for water that you buy from the stores. That’s because depending on who you ask, there are anywhere between 5 and 9 types of water that we typically drink. Some of the common ones you might encounter include tap, mineral, spring, glacier, distilled, and well water. Here are some details on the common types you might see on your store shelves:

• Spring water: Spring water rises to the surface naturally and has to be collected at the spring itself, or at it’s source (usually using a borehole tapping technique)

• Purified water: Typically defined as water that has gone through a purification process (such as the one we mentioned above).

• Mineral water: Water from a spring that naturally contains minerals and trace elements, such as magnesium, calcium, sulfur and salts. 

And what about tap water? Why is it that different types of tap water taste differently? Experts say that because municipal water systems are so complex, it can be tough to figure out exactly what causes different tap waters to taste differently. But the good news is that researchers say that these differences in tap water taste are usually harmless.

This brings us to our next point: what’s the deal with tap water safety? You might be wondering how safe tap water is to drink, and the truth is that the safety of tap water largely depends on where you live in the world. Here in the United States, we’re lucky to have “one of the safest and most reliable drinking water systems in the world.” The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for making sure that all public water supplied in the US is safe, and generally, tap water in the US is safe to drink. 

Of course, there can sometimes be sources of contamination. In the United States, potential contaminants include lead from old pipes and nitrate from high levels of agricultural activity. It’s important to note that typically, steps are taken to prevent contamination, or harm from contaminants. If you want to find out the exact status of the water that flows from your taps, the CDC has consumer reports available.

While a Nalgene bottle full of crystal clear water is basically our favorite thing, not everyone on this planet has access to drinkable water at their fingertips. More than 785 million people around the world do not have access to even basic water services. That’s one of the many reasons why we created our Nalgene Water Fund, because we believe everyone deserves access to clean drinking water. When you purchase a limited edition Nalgene Water Fund bottle, we contribute $5 of every purchase to Reverb, Inc. That money then supports domestic communities struggling with access to clean water by partnering with grassroots nonprofits to raise funds and awareness.

Even here in the United States, many people do not have easy access to drinking water. In the Navajo Nation, America’s largest indigenous tribe with more than 300,000 residents, the vast majority of people do not have running water in their homes. The Navajo Nation (Diné) people have a core belief that “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life), so we launched our new “Tó éí iiná” bottle as part of our Nalgene Water fund. We have also pledged nearly $30,000 in funds and critical supplies to help create sustainable long-term solutions in the Navajo Nation.

We don’t know about you, but we’ve started to think about our tap water a little bit differently. Next time you fill up your Nalgene bottle and head out the door, you can think about the long journey your water has been on before it reached your tap. And when someone asks you “Where does water come from?” you’ll have an answer ready to go.

This World Water Day, when much of the world is reflecting on water challenges overseas, the Nalgene Water Fund (NWF) will continue to focus its efforts on helping the more than two million Americans that lack access to running water, indoor plumbing, or wastewater services. 

Hard-hit domestic areas include Navajo Nation and Flint, MI, where contaminated water sources, infrastructure, affordability, and more threaten the basic right of clean water for all.  Inequities to clean water access are not isolated to just these known areas, however, as its increasingly a struggle across all parts of America. 

Water inequalities can impact anyone. Even you. So it is important that Americans realize and raise awareness for the nation’s growing water crisis. That is why the NWF strives to educate and raise the necessary funds for local nonprofits to tackle the water gap in their communities.  

How can you help?  Get educated and help Nalgene spread the word!

According to Dig Deep’s and the U.S. Water Alliance’s 2019 report entitled “Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States,” where you live, your race, and your income affects your access to clean water. Some important stats to note and share from this report include:

• More than 2 million Americans live without basic access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This number includes: 1.4 million people in the U.S., plus 250,000 residents in Puerto Rico, that lack access to indoor plumbing (hot and cold running water, a sink, shower or bath, or a flushing toilet); and 553,000 homeless people in the U.S.  who may lack equitable water and sanitation access.
• Race is the strongest predictor of water and sanitation access. Nationwide, Native American households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack access to complete plumbing, while African American and Latinx households are nearly twice as likely.
• Poverty is a key obstacle to water access. Lower-than-average household income makes up higher percentages of households lacking complete plumbing access, regardless of race. The same holds true with higher percentages of residents without high school diplomas. 
• This crisis is not about isolated individuals or households living “off the grid,” but instead about entire communities lacking access to clean water and safe sanitation.