Thousands of low-income, Latino residents in Texas still do not have safe drinking water. In one El Paso colonia, some residents are using solar distillation to generate water from the air.
Olga Thomas and other residents of Hueco Tanks rely on a private company to haul water to their neighborhood. Now she can count on her hydro panels for drinking water., The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
In late 2022, the Arizona-based company Source Global installed hydro-panels at her property that capture and purify water from the atmosphere. The panels use solar-powered fans to pull water vapor out of the air. Warm air inside the panel then liquifies the water vapor. Minerals are added to the water for health and taste.
The long wait for water in Hueco Tanks, which state agencies recognize as a colonia, is a story repeated across border counties in Texas. While most residents of Texas colonias now have drinking water,estimated that over 4,000 still did not. But Texas continues to overlook the residents of colonias who lack water. Even this year’s record $32.7 billion budget surplus did not yield significant funding for infrastructure in colonias.
Thomas’ mother emigrated from a small village in Guanajuato, Mexico, to Laredo shortly before she was born. The family later moved to Chicago but continued visiting relatives in the border region, and her mother bought the property in Hueco Tanks in the 1980s. Thomas knows that hardship comes along with living outside the city. But she doesn’t understand why the neighborhood never got water. Thomas remembers joining a protest in the early 2000s, when residents marched to demand water. “We were just completely ignored,” she said.
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