Thank you for your support! This report will introduce you our second Community Plumbing Challenge project in the Navajo Nation, and the support provided to residents in the remote Piute Mesa region of Navajo Mountain.

Welcome to the barren but beautiful lands around the Arizona-Utah border, USA: to the west, the Grand Canyon National Park, and to the east, the stunning vistas of Monument Valley.

Due to their sheer isolation, many households across Navajo Mountain chapter have always struggled to get enough clean water to do basic things like take a bath or cook a meal.

But not any more.

All of that changed when you supported the IWSH Foundation’s latest Community Plumbing Challenge collaboration with DIGDEEP.

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We've prepared this report to show you your impact. Let's get started!

At last count, an estimated 1.7 million Americans still don't have clean, running water or a flush toilet at home.

The Navajo Nation is the largest land area home to a Native American tribe today – an area larger than 10 of the 50 United States of America. 40% of the Navajo Nation population (approximately 69,600 people) live without running water or a toilet.

Daily life for many of these Navajo families is to 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.

IWSH were excited to continue developing this Community Plumbing Challenge, Navajo Nation program as part of the Navajo Water Project initiative of DIGDEEP: the only global water organization working on projects in the US. Over the course of an intensive, week-long assignment in June 2019 we addressed a range of bathroom and kitchen renovations for three remote households, including the installation of new basins, taps, toilets, showers, water tanks, water pumps, and hot and cold water pipework, plus installation of and connection to new wastewater systems.

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Check out these photos from the project and keep reading for more information on the impact we made together.

You are awesome. You really, really are.

Thanks for sharing your hard-earned resources to support this Community Plumbing Challenge project. Your generosity proves that we're all in this together!

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Community Plumbing Challenge, Navajo Mountain commenced with a Healthabitat licensed Housing for Health survey-fix that tested and checked 250 essential safety and health hardware items in each house. This work was completed by a survey-fix team of four people: Nellie Tsinnijinnie and Wilson Crosby (local residents), Grant Stewart (IWSH), and Greg Norman (Healthabitat). The local team members received some preliminary safety, testing and fix training before commencing the work.

The Housing for Health survey uses defined, standard, and repeatable tests of a house and surrounding environment, to collect accurate detailed data in order to ensure that small-scale immediate improvement goes hand-in-hand with careful documentation of longer-term needs and basic housing faults.

The results of the tests were entered into an on-site database and work lists for the licensed trades prepared immediately. IWSH used teams of licensed trades from across the U.S. to carry out the more extensive ‘fix’ work over the following week.

To the right is a summary of key housing for health data from this project. The data compares the functionality of key items of ‘health hardware’ in all houses collected at the commencement of the CPC week by the survey-fix team, with data showing improvements made over the week as a direct result of the CPC trades team fix work.

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Learn more about Housing For Health here.

Three homes in Piute Mesa were nominated by DigDeep and Navajo Mountain Chapter House for the June 2019 Community Plumbing Challenge project. None of the homes had adequate sanitation systems or running water. By the end of the week, they all had new sanitation and leeching systems and running water.

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We sincerely thank each household and their extended families for welcoming our trades team into their homes, and for their co-operation in the project.

This Community Plumbing Challenge event was presented as part of the larger Navajo Water Project; a multi-million dollar initiative to bring clean, running water to hundreds of families across the Navajo Nation.

Through the Navajo Water Project, DigDeep continue to invest in home water systems, solar solutions, water trucking programs and new clean water sources like wells.

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

… or, find out more about the international Community Plumbing Challenge by visiting the website commplumbing.org

For our latest team of skilled volunteer tradespeople, our Navajo Mountain assignment was the perfect opportunity to reflect and remember that it’s not WHAT we do, but it’s WHY we do it.

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Watch on YouTube, here.

IWSH is a 501(c)3 charitable organization that harnesses the skills and expertise of water industry professionals, organizations and manufacturers to support critical water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives worldwide. We do this by tapping into over 100 years of industry experience to develop local infrastructure, improve governance, and create conditions for better public health and economic outcomes.

Through the Community Plumbing Challenge, IWSH works with local and international partners to deliver life-changing, scalable interventions in partnership with host communities. Each Community Plumbing Challenge is designed to demonstrate the integral role that industry and government must play in sustainably solving longstanding water, sanitation, and plumbing challenges.

Every Community Plumbing Challenge (CPC) is designed to create unique opportunities for water professionals to gain experience and to learn new skills by working directly with international peers and industry experts.

Our Navajo Mountain project assembled a multi-disciplined team of skilled tradespeople from across the United States. Volunteers came primarily from Plumbing backgrounds, plus other engineering and construction backgrounds.

We thank the following volunteers for their efforts and energy over the course of the project:

Adam Valdez

Bruce Dietzen

Chris Sanchez

Courtenay Eichhorst

Dain Hansen

Duane Huisken

Fred Robbins

Gaby Davis

Gary Nez

Grant Stewart

Greg Norman

Hank Stevens

Helen Tso

Ian Longacre

Jed Scheuermann

Jordan Young

Kamber Richards

Katrell Young

Kevin Baird

Larry Savage

Liam Grealy

Lorena Atene

Major Tso

Michael Lavoie

Michael Savage

Mike Flenniken

Nellie Tsinnijinnie

Paul Delaware

Randy Lorge

Renee Hardy

Sammy Maes

Sasha Sun

Seán Kearney

Tom Adams

Wilson Crosby

CHAPTER: NAATSIS’ÁÁN CHAPTER, NAVAJO NATION

LOCATION: ARIZONA / UTAH

GPS: 37.0168, -110.79675

COMPLETED: JUNE 2019

LOCAL ALLY: NAATSIS’ÁÁN / NAVAJO MOUNTAIN CHAPTER

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This Community Plumbing Challenge project was hosted by Naatsis'áán Chapter in Navajo Mountain, on the Arizona/Utah border.

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 installed.

IWSH and DIGDEEP share the view that when we work together, we can do amazing things. We wish to extend huge thanks to the following sponsors and partners, without whose generous support, material contributions and donations this Community Plumbing Challenge would not have been possible.

Ferguson

Healthabitat O/S

IAPMO (International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials)

LIXIL (American Standard)

Milwaukee Tool

P.I.P.E. (Piping Industry Progress & Education Trust Fund)

Reliance Worldwide Corporation / Sharkbite Plumbing Solutions

Winsupply of Albuquerque

World Plumbing Council

UA (United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States, Canada)

UA Plumbers Local 68 (TX)

UA Plumbers Local 78 (CA)

UA Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 400 (WI)

UA Local 412 (NM)

UA Local 469 (AZ)

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

SUPPORT DIGDEEP:

It costs $14 a month to deliver water to a house via the Navajo Water Project. And there are hundreds of families 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.

SUPPORT IWSH:

IWSH’s work, including the international Community Plumbing Challenge, is made possible by financial donations and the generous contribution of materials and expertise from across the global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector.

Consider a once-off donation, or contact us for more information regarding customized Sponsorship packages for our next Community Plumbing Challenge projects.