This Device Is Helping Newark Residents Get Free, Clean Water – Newark, NJ Patch

NEWARK, NJ — They call it a “waterbox.” And it doesn’t just dispense hydration, Newark organizers say – it also turns on the tap for social justice.

Recently, nonprofit 501CTHREE.org and local advocacy group the Newark Water Coalition (NWC) rolled out the city’s first waterbox at St. Stephan’s Grace Community Church on Wilson Avenue.

What’s a waterbox? Picture a big, blue vending machine where residents can fill up jugs with free water. The box draws on the municipal water supply, but all of it is filtered and independently tested by a local community group with a vested interest in transparency – they live in the neighborhood.

The devices aren’t intended to be a permanent solution to fixing a contaminated water system, advocates say. But they can be a big short-term boost for people who don’t know where their next glass of water is coming from.

The project, which was first rolled out in Flint, Michigan, is designed to give an added source of protection for communities which have been hit hard by a water crisis, including Newark, advocates say.

According to Newark officials, the city’s lead water woes have begun to turn around. The average lead levels in Newark’s water have fallen below 15 parts per billion, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s benchmark of an “acceptable level,” and the city has replaced the majority of its 18,000 aging, privately owned service pipes – one of the main culprits of the contamination.

But just as progress began to be made on the lead contamination issue, the coronavirus pandemic reared its head in New Jersey. Newark quickly became one of the hardest-hit cities in the state, leading to a devastating one-two punch that left many residents in desperate need of clean water.

The group has been on the frontline of the water crisis for years, collecting and distributing donations of bottled water for in-need community members even after a huge rush of outreach to the city began to dry up.

Now, with the help of 501CTHREE.org and the East Ward’s first waterbox, the NWC will have a powerful new resource at their disposal.

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“You have this inherent trust that you turn that faucet on, that water is clean and that water is safe to drink,” the group’s co-founder Anthony Diaz said. “In the city of Newark, they can’t say that right now – and that’s a problem.”

According to Diaz, the pandemic has made it progressively harder for the group to get the resources they need. But the waterbox will be a “game-changer,” he said.

“Being able to connect it anywhere and provide this resource without going to a store, without needing money, this is going to change the Newark Water Coalition and the City of Newark,” Diaz enthused.

Jaden Smith, the actor who founded 501CTHREE.org with Drew FitzGerald, said the nonprofit is thrilled to work with the NWC.

“We are inspired by their work and are eager to continue our partnership,” Smith said.

The waterbox will also help protect the environment, advocates say. Since being deployed in Flint last year, the city’s four waterboxes have distributed more than 19,000 gallons of free water and replaced more than 300,000 plastic bottles.

But at heart, the project is focused on protecting a different sort of resource: people.

“A child should never have to worry if their drinking water is safe,” said Katt Ramos, a trainer and educator with the NWC.

“There are so many things our children need to thrive in Newark that they aren’t provided,” Ramos said. “The most basic of those things is clean water.”

“Knowing that we will have a resource available to them that will help them avoid exposure to lead, future health issues and neurological issues is the big deep breath I haven’t been able to take in the last four years,” Ramos added.

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