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LogOn Drawing Moisture From Air Can Bring Water to Dry Communities
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LanguageEnglish
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((PLAYBOOK SLUG: LogOn: Water Inequality Tech (TV/R)
HEADLINE: LogOn Drawing Moisture From Air Can Bring Water to Dry Communities
TEASER: One in three people lacks access to clean drinking water
PUBLISHED: Tuesday, 05/09/2023 at 9:30am
BYLINE: Julie Taboh
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: Adam Greenbaum,
PRODUCER: Julie Taboh, Adam Greenbaum
SCRIPT EDITORS: Stearns, Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Original VOA, SOURCE Global, DigDeep, AP
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 01:58
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: There is also a feature version of this story that went out already))
((INTRO))
[[As access to clean drinking water becomes increasingly difficult in many parts of the world, one company is using an innovative technology to help address this problem for underserved communities in the United States. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more.]]
((NATS – Close up shot of hand turning on faucet and filling glass with water))
((NARRATOR))
Safe drinking water is a vital resource …
…that is out of reach for one of three people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
((NATS – Woman pouring water))
((Courtesy: DigDeep))
That includes more than two million Americans living without running water. Something the non-profit firm DigDeep is working to help solve.
((Radio track: Julie Waechter ((WEK-ter)) is the chief program officer and interim Co-CEO at DigDeep. She spoke with VOA via Skype.))
((Julie Waechter, DigDeep Interim Co-CEO)) ((SKYPE))
“Native American families are 19 times more likely than white families to not have running water, and Black and Latino households are twice as likely.”
((Courtesy: SOURCE Global))
((NARRATOR))
The Navajo Nation is the country’s largest Native American reservation, ((end courtesy)) stretching across the Western states of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.
((Courtesy: DigDeep))
Forty percent of the population here has no running water,
((Courtesy: SOURCE Global))
…meaning people must often travel up to 100 kilometers ((60 miles)) into town and back to get it.
((Courtesy: SOURCE Global))
To help address this water shortfall, the company SOURCE Global has installed hydro panels to collect vapor from the air and create clean drinking water for 500 homes.
((Radio track: Cody Friesen is the founder of Source Global. He spoke with VOA via Zoom.))
((Cody Friesen, SOURCE Global CEO)) ((Zoom))
“When you see a SOURCE hydro panel, it looks a little bit like a normal solar module except for just a little thicker…
((Courtesy: SOURCE Global))
…and what it's doing is taking in sunlight and air to make perfect drinking water. If you and I were to ((end courtesy)) take one out of a box and set it up on the ground in 15 minutes, half an hour later, it would be a glass of water.”
((Courtesy: SOURCE Global))
((NARRATOR))
Every hydro panel is effectively an independent water supply. That is a life-changing development on the Navajo Nation, especially for older community members.
((Radio track: says Navajo Nation member Jerry Williams, who spoke with VOA via Skype.))
((Jerry Williams, Navajo Nation Member)) ((SKYPE))
“Some of them said that ‘you know, I never thought in my lifetime that I would have drinking water pumped into my house.' …
((Courtesy: SOURCE Global))
It's a blessing for me to see this.”
((Courtesy: DigDeep))
((NARRATOR))
With climate change and aging infrastructure contributing to population pressures on water supplies, Waechter says what is needed is comprehensive, proactive outreach to every community without safe drinking water.
((Julie Taboh, VOA News))
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