When we imagine life without clean water, we often think of places like Sub-Saharan Africa - communities that barely resemble our own. But at last count, an estimated 1.7 million Americans still don't have clean, running water or a flush toilet at home.

American families without clean water live lives totally different from yours. They wake up and collect water from a source outside their home, fetching it in buckets and boiling it on the stove. When desperate, many haul water from unsafe sources contaminated with bacteria, arsenic or even uranium.

DIGDEEP is the only global water organization working on projects here in the US. We're starting that work on the Navajo Nation. By focusing on low-tech, high-impact solutions, DIGDEEP is making a big impact in this area.

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Check out these photos from the project and keep reading for more information on the technology we used.

You are awesome. You really, really are. 

Thanks for sharing your hard-earned resources with a family in need. No American should live without clean, running water. Your generosity proves that we're all in this together!

Spread the word about your impact! Just copy this link to your report and post it on Facebook or Instagram - or post this photo.

COPY AND PASTE ME >> http://www.digdeepreports.org/isabell

Isabell is a 63 year old grandmother who lives on the Navajo reservation with her two grandchildren, Devion (age 5) and Delroy (age 8).

She is a doting grandmother who loves playing with the kids, reading with them, and helping them with their homework. She also likes to watch NFL football with the boys. Isabell’s favorite music is country western, she loves to do beadwork and go camping, and her dream vacation would be going to Hawaii. 

Devion and Delroy enjoy going to school, playing with their four dogs, and helping raise the family's three sheep. Isabell and the boys have lived their whole lives without running water, and it has been difficult for her to haul water in barrels to her home.

Isabell and her late husband built this traditional Navajo hogan home together 37 years ago. She’s amazed and thankful that she has received clean running water in her own home because she never thought it was possible.

CHAPTER: THOREAU CHAPTER, NAVAJO NATION

LOCATION: THOREAU, NEW MEXICO

GPS: N35.415053 E-108.182963

COMPLETED: JUNE 10, 2016

TECHNOLOGY: CISTERN

SOURCE: WATER TRUCK

LOCAL ALLY: ST. BONAVENTURE

PROJECT COST: $4,093.78

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We collect a TON of project data; this is just a snapshot.

Every DIGDEEP project uses a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) that measures the way water access achieves other key goals like health, gender equity, and access to education. 

Every DIGDEEP project is community-led and uses locally-appropriate technology. Benefiting families contribute labor and resources, participate in the installation, and are trained to use and maintain the equipment we install.

This water system is one small part of the larger Navajo Water Project - a multi-million dollar initiative to bring clean, running water to hundreds of families in Northwest New Mexico. 

We're investing in home water systems, solar solutions, water trucking programs and new clean water sources like wells. 

Explore the whole Navajo Water project by visiting the website: digdeep.org/navajo

DIGDEEP believes in real empowerment, measurable impact and radical transparency.

We use 100% of every donation to support to communities in need. The families we serve do their part too, by contributing supplies and labor. 

When we work together, we can do amazing things.

This project uses cistern and pump technology, a reliable water storage and delivery solution for remote areas. 

Water is delivered bi-monthly to a 1200 gallon cistern buried two feet underground. By burying the cistern, water is protected from sunlight, contamination and freezing. 

Water is then pumped into the home by a Grundfos pump, through a particulate water filter and into a sink and shower. The system also uses small, in line electric water heaters. 

Each cistern system is built with the help of the benefitting family, who are taught to maintain and upgrade their system as needed. The Navajo Water Project uses local labor and sources local parts when available. 

Now that you've seen the incredible impact your gift can have, why not give again? 

It costs $14 a month to deliver water to this house. And there are hundreds of families like this one waiting for a water system of their own. 

You can sponsor that amount every month, make a new gift to a family in need or even give in someone's name.  

We'll use 100% of your gift on another project like this one, and we'll send you another impact report.