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When Mark Hogg recently traveled to Puerto Rico to help deliver safe water kits to the hurricane-ravaged island,Honeymoon 2 (2022) Hindi Short Film he met locals who wept at the sight of clean water.

Hogg, founder and CEO of the Louisville-based nonprofit organization WaterStep, arrived in rural Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, earlier this month and was shocked by the devastation.

SEE ALSO: Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Here's what you can do to help.

Despite rosy statistics from the U.S. government claiming that nearly three-quarters of the island's residents had access to safe water, Hogg traveled to communities where residents relied on creeks, rivers, and hillside streams for water. Desperate to drink, bathe, clean, and cook, they collected that water in filthy jugs, bottles, and tanks. Some even turned to gathering water from a Superfund site. (Experts contacted by CNN tested the water and said it was safe to drink.)

"Things are probably worse than you can imagine," he said. "I talked to quite a few people who were sick, whose children are getting sick [from water-borne illnesses], but they have no other options."

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Since significant portions of Puerto Rico's electrical grid remain offline, affected pumps and filtration systems can't sanitize and deliver water. Even when people do have access to a water source, they often can't get disinfectant like bleach or chlorine to treat water and clean the receptacles they're using to collect it.

In a review of publicly available data, Voxfound that many towns have been without running water for the past month, as of Wednesday. Only 9 percent of water treatment and distribution plants have regular power.

"We need to think beyond drinking water."

One problem the government can't seem to address quickly enough is ensuring that communities have generators to power water sanitation systems. According to Vox, one mayor pleaded with government officials to get a generator for his town's water plant, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Guard were unable to provide one. Eighty-five percent of the people in his community didn't have water a month after the hurricane.

The crisis shows no signs of easing, either. Estimates indicate it'll be six to eight months before power is fully restored on the island. And while the federal government continues to deliver bottled and desalinized water to the U.S. territory, it hasn't yet met Puerto Ricans' everyday need for a large water supply necessary to bathe, clean, and cook.

"What we've got to move beyond is the idea of bringing an individual water, and we need to think beyond drinking water," Hogg said. "People need large amounts of safe water at their disposal that they can manage."

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That may sound like an overwhelming task, but several nonprofit organizations and recovery initiatives are increasingly focusing on providing Puerto Ricans with the means to sanitize the water they can access. It's actually quite easy for people to support these efforts through donations and contributions.

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But before you make a decision, be sure to research Puerto Rico's water crisis with a critical eye toward the difference between sending bottled water and providing access to the skills and tools that communities need to survive for the next several months.

While not a comprehensive list, here are just a few of the new campaigns getting clean water to Puerto Rico that you can consider supporting.

1. WaterStep

The nonprofit has brought 22 disaster response kits to Puerto Rico and trained local officials and emergency response workers to use them. The kits were distributed across the island.

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The kits include a football-sized chlorine generator that can sanitize up to 10,000 gallons of water in a day. It also contains a bleach-making stick that produces medical-strength disinfectant for water receptacles, cooking equipment, and surfaces. WaterStep plans to install its portable chlorination systems in all 78 of Puerto Rico's municipalities.

You can donate to WaterStep or consider starting a shoe-collection drive, the proceeds of which help fund the nonprofit's work.

2. Operation Agua

Operation Agua launched Monday with the goal of purchasing and distributing 100,000 water filtration systems to households and classrooms in Puerto Rico, in addition to sending 50 large-capacity devices to nonprofit organizations, union offices, and community groups.

The effort is a partnership of the American Federation of Teachers, the Hispanic Federation, Operation Blessing International, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

"Operation Agua isn’t a substitute for federal action, which we continue to fight for, but a necessary intervention to get as much clean water as quickly as we can to care for people in serious need," AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement.

You can donate to Operation Agua here.

3. Empowered By Light

This San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit has partnered with Sunrun, an energy services company, and Givepower, a nonprofit focused on clean energy technologies, to bring solar micro grids, solar-powered water desalination systems, and water production systems to fire stations and communities in Puerto Rico. 

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You can donate to their efforts here.

4. LifeStraw

LifeStraw produces a few different water filtration systems that can meet individual, family, and community needs. The LifeStraw Community, for example, can filter up to 100,000 liters of water and serve 75 to 100 people per day.

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So far, the company has provided a combination of its products to an estimated 20,000 people in Puerto Rico, and plans to distribute more materials this week to aid several thousand more people.

You can donate to LifeStraw's hurricane relief fund here.

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