Monday, Mar 7 2011 3:16PM

Some Navajo have to travel long distances to obtain drinking water since many don't have access to running water in their reservation.

The University of Arizona is working with the Navajo Nation to create a water purifying process that will give the group easy access to clean drinking water, reported the Green Valley News and Sun.

Many Navajos in rural northeastern Arizona have to travel as far as 40 miles to gather water from a clean well, reported the newspaper, since water taken from areas of the reservation has tested positive for traces of uranium and arsenic. John Leeper, the director of the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources, told the paper that almost a third of the community's 200,000 people do not have direct access to safe water.

"In some cases, we know they’re going to livestock wells, where water sources don’t meet minimum standards, because water is so expensive and the roads are so poor," Leeper said, describing the desperation of the situation.

In an effort to fix the problem, engineers from the University of Arizona are helping the Navajo construct a distillation system that uses solar panels to heat and then distill contaminated water. Leeper told the paper that using renewable energy to clean water will leave the Navajo with more funding to improve the infrastructure for water system services on the reservation.

Uranium and arsenic can be hazardous to human health when consumed in large amounts, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and can increase the risk of some cancers.