Located in a region where water is rare and often polluted, the construction of a new maternity ward at the IMFE will more than double the hospital’s water needs by the end of 2016.
Alexander Lane, commercial director EMEA, Dow Water & Process Solutions said that the hospital's need for drinking water will increase from 70 to 150 m³ per day with the new unit. As the local authorities are not able to meet this need, La Chaîne de l'Espoir, who runs the hospital, asked Dow in France to help.
The hospital has decided to source all of its needs from an independent well. However, the analysis of the water from the well has detected problems with pollution from nitrates, impurities and potential bacterial contamination.
So Dow has designed an autonomous unit based on its ultra-filtration technology, which eliminates particles and bacteria from the water, and using ion-exchange resins to treat nitrate pollution, which is particularly important for newborns.
Once it is launched, the hospital will benefit from 12 m³ per hour of drinking water, complying with WHO standards.