News / National
Harare Central Hospital resorts to buying water
14 Mar 2012 at 23:32hrs | Views
Authorities at Harare Central Hospital have resorted to buying water for use in critical departments as water supplies at the referral centre continue to be erratic.
The hospital's operations director Mr Cliff Ngwata said the situation has forced them to buy water tanks for all critical departments to ensure services were not disrupted.
"What we have done is to put water tanks at critical areas. When tap water runs dry we buy water and fill our reservoirs," Mr Ngwata said.
The critical departments include maternity, theatre, X-ray and the steam boilers.
Boilers provide the hospital with steam or hot water for vital needs such as space heating. Mr Ngwata said the X-ray department stops offering any services if there is no water while the steam boilers will have to function less hours than expected.
"The boiler needs at least 8 000 litres of water an hour and it is expected to function 24 hours but currently it is operating for lesser hours because we cannot afford to buy water for it to operate at full throttle," Mr Ngwata said.
He said the X-ray department, maternity and theatres need at least 20 000 litres of water each a day.
"The cost of water is not very expensive but is not sustainable as a long term solution.
"We continue to engage the City Council on the best way to get constant supplies considering that we are an institution whose majority of services require water supplies," he said.
Mr Ngwata said they are buying water at a cost of US$10 for 10 000 litres and they spend US$190 a day to buy water.
Water is available during the day but runs dry overnight.
The hospital, Mr Ngwata said, had so far installed eight tanks to cover the theatre and x-ray units. The institution however, needs more tanks.
The United Nations Children's Fund recently donated four tanks for the Children's Hospital.
Harare Central Hospital, according the city fathers, has been experiencing water problems owing to its citing, which is at a hilltop such that if there is no pressure taps go dry.
The hospital's operations director Mr Cliff Ngwata said the situation has forced them to buy water tanks for all critical departments to ensure services were not disrupted.
"What we have done is to put water tanks at critical areas. When tap water runs dry we buy water and fill our reservoirs," Mr Ngwata said.
The critical departments include maternity, theatre, X-ray and the steam boilers.
Boilers provide the hospital with steam or hot water for vital needs such as space heating. Mr Ngwata said the X-ray department stops offering any services if there is no water while the steam boilers will have to function less hours than expected.
"The boiler needs at least 8 000 litres of water an hour and it is expected to function 24 hours but currently it is operating for lesser hours because we cannot afford to buy water for it to operate at full throttle," Mr Ngwata said.
He said the X-ray department, maternity and theatres need at least 20 000 litres of water each a day.
"The cost of water is not very expensive but is not sustainable as a long term solution.
"We continue to engage the City Council on the best way to get constant supplies considering that we are an institution whose majority of services require water supplies," he said.
Mr Ngwata said they are buying water at a cost of US$10 for 10 000 litres and they spend US$190 a day to buy water.
Water is available during the day but runs dry overnight.
The hospital, Mr Ngwata said, had so far installed eight tanks to cover the theatre and x-ray units. The institution however, needs more tanks.
The United Nations Children's Fund recently donated four tanks for the Children's Hospital.
Harare Central Hospital, according the city fathers, has been experiencing water problems owing to its citing, which is at a hilltop such that if there is no pressure taps go dry.
Source - TH
