Pure water on board

The ‘Jibon Tari’ (Boat of Life) is a fully equipped floating hospital which since its launch in April 1999 has enabled 31,000 people in the riverine areas of Bangladesh to have access to medical treatment. Over 5,000 operations have been performed to restore sight, hearing or mobility. During the planning and construction stage it was decided that an essential requirement would be a safe water supply, that could be used with confidence for all clinical procedures and drinking purposes. The objective of the IMPACT Foundation was to ensure that the supply on board should meet the WHO guidelines for drinking water. Initially it was thought that this could be achieved by purchasing pure water and storing it on tanks on board. Later research indicated that this would not only be expensive, but also impractical. Advice was received from our partner organisation in Nepal that a supply of pure water could possibly be achieved by installation of a Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant.