In May, UNICEF inaugurated the wastewater treatment plants at the Saint-Luc de Tabarre hospital in Port-au-Prince and that of Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID)

Work began in March 2019 following technical and environmental impact studies carried out in 2016-2017, and a call for tenders for the recruitment of construction companies. UNICEF was supported by a steering committee made up of the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of the Environment and the National Directorate of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DINEPA).

The plant is made up of four pumps submerged in buried basins, a screen, a biological reactor, a settling tank, a chlorination chamber, allowing the purified water to be evacuated in an infiltration zone for the Hospital. Saint-Luc and in a lagoon for the Albert Schweitzer Hospital.

To ensure that the outgoing water meets discharge standards, UNICEF has contracted with Quisqueya University to perform physicochemical and bacteriological analyzes of the water upstream and downstream of the two treatment plants.

"The wastewater treatment plants at the Saint-Luc de Tabarre hospital in Port-au-Prince and that of Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, will promote a healthier environment for children, women and other members of the community who attend these two hospitals."

Staff from both hospitals have been trained in the maintenance and operation of the system.

HL/ HaitiLibre