Sukhbaatar Aimag General Hospital Water Distiller Project – Mongolia

Location
4th district, Baruun-Urt Town, Sukhbaatar Province, Mongolia

Community Description
Baruun-Urt is the capital of Sukhbaatar Aimag (province), which is located in eastern Mongolia, bordering China. The city is 550 km away from the largest city and capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. Sukhbaatar Aimag itself is a small province of about 55,000 people, of which about 15,000 live in Baruun-Urt.

The surrounding areas of Baruun-Urt are mineral-rich, with a large zinc mine seven kilometers away from the city. The available drinking water has high levels of sulfur which residents rarely, if ever, filter.

In recent years, the number of people in Sukhbaatar who have stomach diseases, liver and gallbladder disorders has increased significantly due to the bad quality of the drinking water. Baruun-Urt water is supplied by deep wells and with pipes to those with running water.

Sukhbaatar General Hospital is the main provider of health care in the province, and they serve thousands of people a year in their inpatient units and outpatient clinics. As of now, the patients who are hospitalized have no source of drinking water. Family members provide patients with tea and water from home or buy bottled water from the nearby stores.

Project Description
This project is to provide a reliable source of clean water for the patients at the Sukhbaatar General Hospital by purchasing and installing a large water distiller. The distiller removes impurities through boiling the water and condensing the steam.

The water distiller will be placed in the kitchen in the main hospital where it can be accessed for drinking water and cooking. Water will be passed out to the patients with their meals.

The kitchen staff will be responsible for the maintenance and use and will be trained accordingly. The hospital will pay the costs for any future needs of the distiller.

Project funds will be used to purchase the distiller and transport it from the capital.

Project Impact
This project will benefit the 160 patients who occupy the inpatient units each day plus the 275 workers.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Kate Borkowski

Comments
The distiller will remove most of the mineral contaminants from the water and provide the patients and staff with an adequate supply of safe water. The technology is widely used in the region, and has been proven to be effective.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$555.00 + additional funds

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project now has been fully funded through the generosity of The Soneva SLOW LIFE Trust as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative, with additional funds from the Elmo Foundation for future projects in the country.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Kate Borkowski of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Kate and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.

This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.