Imtiaz Sooliman – Smart water meters for Western Cape health facilities
AI: Summary ©
A representative from Microsoft talks about a new project that will help save the resource of the Western Cape Department of Health
and the Eastern Cape and poor areas. The project will involve installing smart water meters at health facilities and
acimate to save water. The project is expected to be a disaster, but Microsoft is working to improve the situation.
and the Eastern Cape and poor areas. The project will involve installing smart water meters at health facilities and
acimate to save water. The project is expected to be a disaster, but Microsoft is working to improve the situation.
AI: Summary ©
Private Partnership between the Western Cape Department of Health,
gift of the givers and Microsoft will see more effective use of
water in hospitals. The collaborative effort was announced
in Cape Town today. Smart water meters will be installed at health
facilities across the province, all in a bid to save the precious
resource. Our reporter, Mariska Berta spoke to the gift of the
givers.
We're coming to you from the heart of the mother city, where a very
exciting project was launched today, or it was announced today.
Gift of the givers is involved. International company Microsoft
and the Department of Health will be joining forces to look at ways
to streamline the use of water in hospitals. Of course, that's just
a starting point for this new project where they will be using
smart meters, and gift of the givers will be the implementation
agent for this. Of course, gift of the givers have been involved
throughout the province since the beginning of the water crisis. So
to speak to us a little bit more, we have the head of the
organization, Dr India, Suleiman, Dr sav thank you so very much for
joining us. Just in a nutshell, explain to us this project that
you are embarking on. It's an addition to all other projects
we're already doing. Basically, there's a shortage of water. The
water that you have, we have to look after it properly. In places
of emergency, it's even more incumbent that you look after that
water properly. The Smart waters and the smart meter that we will
be implementing in hospitals, a project partnered by Microsoft,
ensures that we find the faults in the hospital where water is being
wasted and it could run into 1000s of liters that water, the meter
first picks up where the water is being lost, where the faults are,
and how to save that water. Secondly, in the event of no water
being lost, but suddenly there's a drop of in pressure, or the water
level to drop, and you have urgent operations taking place, or you
need water in the ICU, that meter can redirect water to the urgent
areas. So it's huge benefit in terms of fixing up the faults,
finding the faults and saving life by directing water to the right
places. The application, of course, is far wider than that.
We're learning on the job as we're going along. We can apply it at
schools for educational assistance department and also that smart
meter, we can put it on boards, and you can tell us earlier,
rather than later, if the aquifer is drying out, so we can actually
save the aquifer, cut the amount of water that's coming out of the
aquifer, and start shutting the taps down to allow the aquifer to
recharge and then reopen the balls much later on in the crisis. Right
now, this is important technology that we really require. Gift of
the givers. Of course, go where the need is, but will this project
go to the rest of the country as well? It's starting here in the
Western Cape, but are you hoping to expand it? That is the initial
discussion that, of course, the areas more in need than the
Western Cape and poor areas too. And Microsoft said yes, because
they've got total cooperation here already. I mean, the health
department has just opened its doors, and it's been very, very
easy to deal with them. And you know, my special compliments to
Winton Gibbs, and we all said, in the interest of the people of
South Africa, we'll use this as a testing ground to perfect the
model, make all the mistakes, fix everything up, and then just
rolling it out in all nine provinces, and hopefully export
the idea to other parts of the continent and other parts of the
world that may have similar problems. What is gift of the
givers busy with? Besides this project, you are busy everywhere.
What other projects are you busy with? In terms of the drought, we
know that the Eastern Cape also has a severe drought now, and
things are not looking good. Just tell us a little bit about your
other projects as well. We'll be preparing for Eastern Cape, you
know where right now we're holding 12 warehouses full of bottled
water. Bottle water is not the ideal, but it is life saving at
short notice. So we look at Eastern Cape, but we busy building
drilling balls still in the Western Cape, we've designed our
whole filtration system. We have filtration systems people are
coming up with was costing a million Rand. We refined that and
made it at 47,000 Rand, and it's far more superior than Indian
system designed by us. So on the job, we're learning we're busy at
schools in Sutherland. We in a race to save the town. We have to
put 208 new boreholes because the entire town is dry. Many sheep are
dying. Ford is required. So to answer your question, we're
providing bottled water. We're providing food for farm workers
and for people who've lost their jobs. We're drilling more balls,
designing our own filtration systems, implementing the Smart
Meter and delivering fodder to several areas in southern cape,
Northern Cape, Western Cape, you know, in Aberdeen and parts of
Eastern Cape, potency
fraserburg, luriz Fontaine and other parts of northern K bustle,
Bay,
the lanes, lanesburg and deflectors. Albertina, giobertina
and our trucks are basically on a cycle all the time. And when we
tell our drivers, take a vest, he said, If you take a.
Rest the sheep will die, so they've been working extra hard.
Compliments to all the staff and all the farmers who've donated the
fodder from different parts of the country, which is very vital for
the needs of the sheep. Thank you very much. That was Dr India
Suleman of gift of the givers. As you heard from him, this drought
has very, very far reaching impacts, and is over a very wide
area, not just the Western Cape, other parts of the country also
affected by this, and they working tirelessly to assist where they
can, to help people get through this horrible drought. The water
meter is a pilot project here in the Western Cape, and it will be
launched in Fife hospital in the near future, and of course, they
will be hoping to roll it out even further as the goes on the.