One of the things that I did after taking charge of my department was to install a water purifier in each ward, so that the patients would get safe drinking water. It should have already been a part of the wards, but unfortunately had somehow been missed for 75 years. The only method known in those days was to filter water and boil it, which I trust was being done in most of the wards before I took over as head. Procuring purifiers was an uphill task for me too. But now it is OK.
The wards have 40 sanctioned beds each, and usually house double or triple the number of patients. In order to make it convenient for the patients, a servant fills a big container with water from the purifier, and patients draw water from it using a tap fitted to it. Any water spilling from the tap during the process is collected in a bucket put below it as shown in the following 3D picture I made to illustrate the point.
The tap of the container in the postnatal ward which has about 100 to 120 patients at a time leaks. The engineers seem unable to fix it, and the sister seems unable to get it replaced. So the water leaks all the time. While I was going away from the ward after seeing my patients the other day, I found the water leaking at a brisk pace. The bucket below the tap was 25% full. I tried turning the tap, but it did not stop the leak. I inspected the water in the container. It seemed OK.
"Sister, the water seems to be leaking more than usual today" I said.
"Yes, Sir" she said.
"It is a good thing you have got a bucket below the tap to collect all that water" I said.
"Yes, Sir" she said.
"I trust you are putting the water back into the container above whenever the bucket gets filled?" I asked with my best innocent expression.
She looked at my face for a moment with a startled expression, grinned and said, "No! We put it in the toilets and bathrooms. We fill the container with fresh water from the purifier whenever the container gets empty."
I smiled and went away. I must admit that I had not asked that question as a joke. I have learned to think of the impossible, and very often it turns out to be true. It was good to find that it was not true this time.
The wards have 40 sanctioned beds each, and usually house double or triple the number of patients. In order to make it convenient for the patients, a servant fills a big container with water from the purifier, and patients draw water from it using a tap fitted to it. Any water spilling from the tap during the process is collected in a bucket put below it as shown in the following 3D picture I made to illustrate the point.
"Sister, the water seems to be leaking more than usual today" I said.
"Yes, Sir" she said.
"It is a good thing you have got a bucket below the tap to collect all that water" I said.
"Yes, Sir" she said.
"I trust you are putting the water back into the container above whenever the bucket gets filled?" I asked with my best innocent expression.
She looked at my face for a moment with a startled expression, grinned and said, "No! We put it in the toilets and bathrooms. We fill the container with fresh water from the purifier whenever the container gets empty."
I smiled and went away. I must admit that I had not asked that question as a joke. I have learned to think of the impossible, and very often it turns out to be true. It was good to find that it was not true this time.
