The Mwandi Hospital serves 27,000 people in Western Province Zambia. When the hospital's nurses and doctors don't have sufficient clean running water to wash hands between patients & before surgery, health suffers. Mwandi Hospital American Partners will construct a water system that will reliably supply clean water in amounts that will improve medical practices and limit exposure to water-borne diseases. The system will use an elevated bulk storage tank, filtrations system and UV purification.
The hospital's current water system doesn't provide sufficient clean water to meet the healthcare needs of its patients. The piping infrastructure is old and years of repairs caused leaks and low water pressure. Pumps bringing water from the river run constantly and often fail. The filtration system removes bulk particles but does not reliably remove all bacteria. As a result, patients have a higher risk of waterborne diseases and infection that may be transmitted during care and in surgery.
A new water system will increase the reliability and quality of hospital water. An efficient piping infrastructure will deliver uniform water pressure and eliminate leaks. Water pumped to an elevated tank will be filtered for particles before entering the tank and a new UV Water Treatment System will purify water leaving the tank. The tank elevation and proximity to the river will reduce pump workload, minimizing maintenance costs and reducing electrical costs of operation.
Clean water is crucial when caring for sick patients. Dependable, high quality water will reduce waterborne illnesses and transmission of infection between patients or in surgery. The health of all patients will improve as a result. In addition, plans are underway for Mwandi Hospital to become a referral hospital serving a population of 75-100,000 people. The new water system will prepare the hospital to meet the increased need for clean water as in-patient services grow.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
