BOZEMAN -- For nearly a week, Montana State Prison has been dealing with a water crisis.
"Six or seven bottles of water is maybe what you should drink per day, but they're not factoring in every other thing that we have to use that for," said an inmate.
An inmate at the prison, whose identity we chose to withhold, said the bottled water they receive isn't just for drinking.
"We have to use that to brush our teeth, wash our hands, and to take a shower if we need to."
WATCH: Montana State Prison inmates face water crisis with limited bottles for all daily needs
Water shortage forces Montana State Prison inmates to ration seven bottles daily
Montana State Prison officials said that "inmates are given seven bottles of water a day" and that "there are 15 hand washing units dispersed through the security compound."
Nicole Gomez Patalano, the Justice Initiative Director at Catalyst Montana, a non-profit community organizer group, said they've been connecting with people who have family members at Montana State Prison.
"For the last seven days, they've been describing conditions without running water, including limited drinking water, unequally distributed water bottles, that folks have to ration for both drinking and hygiene," she said.
According to the Montana Department of Corrections, there are 153 portable toilets and 43 portable showers at the prison.
"What I heard from a family member yesterday was that they are shower tents," said Patalano. "So they are outside in the snow, and people are having to shower in those conditions."
Patalano added that family members' biggest concerns right now are "hygiene, health, and safety."
"They're worried about infection, dehydration, and the mental toll."
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