Newark’s water crisis took hold just as Sanders started her business, in the form of record-high lead levels in drinking water of schools. In 2017, the city reported lead levels were above the federal action level and in 2018 and 2019, lead levels rose to some of the highest of any major city in the country. “Imagine a kid drinking this water from the time they grow up to their teenage years, knowing how damaging it is and what it can do to their brain development,” she says.
Sanders has to dedicate precious educational space, not to mention significant funding, to an ongoing stock of plastic water bottles. That’s going to change when The Institute of Intriguing Minds secures access to a Water Box, a $50,000 portable filtration system that removes lead and other contaminants to provide 10 gallons of clean water every minute.