The Ho Teaching Hospital has been provided with a filtrated and mechanised borehole to boost its water supply aimed at solving the perennial water shortages experienced by the hospital.
The hospital faced acute water shortages, excessive iron content, and the corrosive effect that the iron had on the instruments used in the construction of the boreholes, and that was not safe for use.
The project estimated at $22,000 was financed by a Non-Governmental Organisation, Life for Relief Development, and through the assistance from some donors.
At a handing over ceremony, the Country Director of Life for Relief Development for Ghana and Seirra Leone, Mr. Sheikh Umar Faruk said the equipments installed at the facility for water production called arrow or reverse osmotic, would be able to produce 2000 litres of water per minute, as it purifies and separates 40 percent of good water for consumption from the bad which is 60 percent.
According to him, the project had been in the pipeline for long and has therefore been carried out for the benefit of the hospital and people in the region.
“The Ho teaching hospital has been our friends for a long time, we provide medical equipments and consumables to them. They made requests to have access to quality water at the hospital, they have it now”, he said.
Mr. Faruk mentioned that the NGO had a provided borehole to the teaching hospital due to high demand and the high iron content in the water that needed to be filtrated.
He added that the acidic level of the water was 33.35 and that gives the water a quality taste for consumption because “It was difficult to consume, that was why we had to filtrate and purify it”.
He said his organisation had reached out to many communities across the country in order to provide good and safe drinking water to some deprived areas and would extend to more in the coming years.
He appealed to the teaching hospital to erect a fence around it to ensure the safety of the equipments.
The Medical Director of the Ho Teaching Hospital, Dr. John Tampouri expressed gratitude to the NGO for their continuous support towards the facility to improve healthcare delivery and access to quality drinking water.
“We have been in a good relationship with Life and we have benefited from their generosity through medical consumables, beds and other equipments, we are very grateful as this would change the quality of healthcare delivery at the hospital”, he stressed.
He noted that the facility would benefit the community and Volta region at large since the increase and demand for water is high, “it would obviously go a long way to help solve some perennial water situation we have as an institution”.
Economic value
He stated that the quality of water produced was comparable to those in the markets adding that the institution would ensure that water dispensed into dispensing machines to for economic growth as it is to help reduce dependency on brands sold on the markets.
He said it could also be bottled to make additional income that which would help solve some of the financial challenges of the institution.
He stressed that the hospital would be lucky to run with water for 24 hours, whether there is water or not.
He appealed to the NGO for support to provide oxygen supply equipments such as an oxygen processing plant to help reduce the cost of health delivery and quality.
By Agnes Melissa Yovo | Volta Region
TalkS Africa 