Teams succeed in striking water at Johannesburg Hospital
Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Gift of the Givers says its teams succeeded in finding underground water at the the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital in Johannesburg.
However, due to the tests that still need to be done to determine the quality of the water, they will only know within the next two weeks whether the water is fit for consumption.
On Thursday, the NGO managed to find 18 000 litres of water per hour after management of the hospital asked the teams to start drilling for water on the hospital premises in order to alleviate the continuous water problems.
The hospital has been battling with water supply challenges after disruptions took place as a result of a power failure at the Eikenhof substation.
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Gift of the Givers Founder Imtiaaz Sooliman says the water will undergo various tests.
"We will bring our laboratory specialist from Cape Town to do what is called a quick test. They can tell us if we can start pumping water into the hospital system.
"That water will stay in the hospital system but it will not be for drinking. Then it will go into a normal laboratory test to test for e coli, arsenic, iron and sulphur."
In the meantime, Sooliman has called on corporate South Africa to donate bottled water to the hospital and surrounding areas.
He says this will not only assist patients and hospital staff, but the surrounding community.
