Jaden Smith Is Bringing Clean Water to Flint with His Mobile Lead Filtration System
The artist is making waves.
Jaden Smith launched a new initiative to help the residents of Flint, Michigan amidst their five-year-long water crisis.
The 20-year-old rapper, actor and JUST Water co-founder — the eco-friendly company he started in 2015 with his father Will Smith — partnered with First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church to deploy a mobile water treatment system.
READ: Will & Jaden Smith Are Donating Water To Flint Until Lead Levels Drop
According to a press release, the system, called "The Water Box," filters out lead and additional contaminants in water. The Water Box will produce up to 10 gallons of clean drinking water per minute, and the water is tested each day with us, and every few weeks by an independent and certified laboratory.
“This has been one of the most rewarding and educational experiences for me personally," Smith said in the statement. "Working together with people in the community experiencing the problems and design(ing) something to help them has been a journey I will never forget. We are planning to deploy more water boxes in Flint and other communities facing similar challenges."
Last year, Will Smith and his youngest son pledged to continue giving monthly to the city until lead levels in the public schools’ water are below the federal threshold.
Flint's water crisis began in April 2014 after the city's water source was switched from the Detroit River to the Flint River, resulting in lead contamination of the city's public drinking water.
Trinity Church has distributed over 5 million bottles of water to residents, but bottled water donations have declined since the state's free bottled water program was shut down under former Gov. Rick Snyder in 2018. According to WCPO news, the newly appointed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently announced that the program will be reinstated.
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Jada Pinkett Smith, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Lionel Richie, and Queen Latifah are also a part of the collective participating in JUST Water's campaign. Pinkett Smith shared photos to Twitter on Sunday from their trip to Flint.
Source: WCPO