The Queen Elizabeth Hospital has secured a major boost to its climate resilience with the installation of a new 50 000-gallon water storage tank, part of a regional project to safeguard essential services against drought and other impacts of climate change.
The tank, donated by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), was formally handed over on Thursday, with hospital and regional officials hailing the investment as a critical safeguard for the country’s main health institution.
QEH Chief Executive Officer Neil Clark thanked the CCCCC team for their support in making the project a reality, and said the facility must be prepared for the growing threats posed by climate change.
“This is a significant step forward in strengthening the resilience of our hospital, our health services, and indeed our country,” he said. “Rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and increasing variability in rainfall are already affecting the natural supply of fresh water across our region. For a critical institution like the QEH, where water is not just essential but life-sustaining, these realities present very real risks.
“This investment is not simply a piece of infrastructure, it’s a safeguard. It helps us ensure continuity of care in times of drought, during emergencies, and whenever demand is at its highest.”
The tank forms part of the Water Sector Resilience Nexus for Sustainability in Barbados (WSRN-S) project, jointly implemented by the Barbados Water Authority and the CCCCC, with financing from the Green Climate Fund.
Head of Project Management at the CCCCC, Diane Wade, said the development should be seen as a milestone for the region.
“It is of significance not only because of what it means for Barbados in realising its ambitions of climate resilience, but also for the reach of its impacts across the Caribbean,” Wade noted. “The WSRN-S Barbados Project, approved in 2018 and launched in 2019, was the first full-size project for the Caribbean by the Green Climate Fund. It has since inspired a growing number of initiatives. Directly, project investments benefit an approximate 189 000 Barbadian citizens.”
While the original budget for the tank was $860 000, logistical challenges and global shipping costs pushed bids to more than $1m. A needs assessment carried out in 2020 determined that a 50 000-gallon tank would effectively double the QEH’s storage capacity.
QEH Director of Engineering Services, Paula Agbowu, said the hospital is now storing more than 150 000 gallons of water.
“The hospital installed a 50 000-gallon tank in 2018–19, which significantly increased capacity. This second tank from the CCCCC is an additional 50 000 gallons. So now we have in excess of 150 000 gallons of water storage,” she explained.
She stressed that while the figure may sound large, the hospital’s daily demand is substantial: “We need water for hand washing, for cooking, for steam supply, for sterilisation, for surgeries … there are nearly 200 toilets and sinks, plus many other facilities. We use an enormous amount of water on a daily basis.”
Agbowu added that the hospital hopes to eventually add a third tank to match its level of preparedness in electricity supply.
“At this juncture we would like to become a little bit more self-sufficient. With a third tank we would be at the point where we could be comfortable. In terms of our electrical capacity, we are at the point where we have two full weeks of capacity, and we would really love to be at that same comfort level as it relates to our water capacity,” she said. (SB)
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