In 1997, Jewel established Project Clean Water, a foundation that works to improve the quality of life for millions of people by helping to provide clean water on a global scale. “I became interested in clean water when I was 18 and lived in my car,” said the 34-year-old. “I had sick kidneys and had to drink 2 gallons of purified water a day. I could not afford to buy much bottled water, and it dawned on me that if it was this hard to get clean drinking water in the United States, then it was probably a huge global issue. “Solutions and technologies exist to provide clean, affordable drinking water anywhere in the world.