The CEO of the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg, Relebohile Ncha, has expressed relief that the hospital’s water problems may soon be over thanks to a borehole being drilled on the premises by Gift of the Givers.

Gift of the Givers says the borehole will help alleviate the water crisis at the Helen Joseph Hospital.

The hospital has been battling with water shortages since last month because the Hurst Hill Reservoir has been running low. It also affected the water supply to the Rahima Moosa Hospital and surrounding areas.

Ncha says patients and staff have been frustrated with water shortages they’ve had to endure in recent weeks. She says those on dialysis and those needing surgery have been the most affected.

She says despite pre-scheduled surgery, they had to prioritise emergency operations as very little water supply was coming into the hospital.

Despite the availability of water tanks and various donations, Ncha says the borehole will give the hospital much-needed relief so they can deliver services to patients in the best possible way.

Humanitarian aid organisation, Gift of the Givers founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, says they were approached by the Helen Joseph Hospital and the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital to assist in providing water security to these two facilities.

“At 8 o’clock this morning we started drilling to start finding water. Before that geologist, Dr Groenewald gave us 8 points where we should start looking for water. We drilled for 28 metres, we went through some clay … and then some that’s too soft. When you have soft sand it’s difficult to drill and the borehole will collapse. So then we have to stop drilling and put steel casing and then continue drilling until we find the first amount of water.”

Meanwhile, Sooliman says they have successfully found water at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital.

About 18 000 litres of water per hour is being pumped from the borehole directly to the hospital.

Sooliman says they are elated at the good news. “Whilst we started to drill at Helen Joseph this morning we connected the borehole directly to the hospital infrastructure. Now if from the municipality the water doesn’t come we are providing 130-thousand litres of water per day uninterrupted supply for the total needs of the hospital every single day.

Source: SABC News