Thunder Bay 50/50 Draw Supports New Renal Water Purification System
Published Monday, June 26, 2023
Thunder Bay 50/50 Draw Supports New Renal Water Purification System
by Graham Strong
The Renal Department at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is in desperate need of a new water purification system. The current system, which was installed when the Hospital was built 20 years ago, is now near the end of its serviceable life. Without it, dialysis patients wouldn’t be able to get the life-saving treatments they need.
“The water purification system is the heart of dialysis,” said Allyson Hoard-Mann, Manager, North West Regional Renal Program. “It’s not really thought of all that much, but it’s essential for life-saving treatment. It’s a hidden gem.”
Dialysis is a medical process to help clean the blood, a job normally done by the kidneys. But for people who experience any sort of kidney failure due to injury or disease such as diabetes, dialysis replaces those blood-cleaning functions. Without dialysis, toxins quickly build up in the blood, and patients can die within days or weeks.
Currently, over 220 patients come to our Hospital for dialysis. Some come three or four times per week. A handful needs daily treatment. If disaster struck and the whole system went down for any length of time, the Hospital would need to quickly find alternative treatment plans.
“We have an emergency plan, God forbid if that ever happened. As part of that plan, we’d have to evaluate many factors such as how long the system was down and how long to get replacement parts to get back up and running. ” Hoard-Mann said. Some patients could possibly go to Sioux Lookout or Fort Frances for treatment, but not all. “In the worst-case scenario, we’d have to fly patients to southern Ontario.”
That’s why it’s so important we replace this new water purification system now, before we experience that worst-case scenario.
Water purification systems are needed for dialysis because although city tap water is safe and clean to drink, it’s a much different story when you talk about adding it directly to the blood stream. Minerals and chemicals that your digestive system can easily process can be poisonous to your blood. These include naturally occurring ions such as calcium and trace amounts of metals. They also include chemicals added to the water such as chlorine used to keep the water bacteria-free.
“All the minerals, metals (calcium, magnesium), contaminants, chlorine, chloramines, and bacteria need to be removed from the water so that it is 99% pure,” said Hari Selvarajah. He’s one of three Biomedical Technologists in Renal along with Mike Smit and Michael Boimistruck who manages the water purification system operations. “This is to ensure conductivity, temperature, and pH levels of the dialysis fluid are accurate as possible.”
The new water purification system, which includes two separate units, can purify water faster using less energy than the current system. Two units are important so that if one breaks down, the other will be able to keep up. However, the new units include two pumps themselves, which means it won’t stop completely if one pump breaks down. This gives an extra measure of backup safety.
“It has very good built-in redundant back-ups, and operates far more efficiently than the current machines,” Selvarajah said.
If you bought a ticket in June’s Thunder Bay 50/50 draw, then you’ve helped bring this life-saving equipment to our Hospital to ensure none of our dialysis patients need to leave the region for dialysis treatment. There is still time to help – and this month’s draw has already surpassed $600,000. Buy your tickets online at: https://www.healthsciencesfoundation.ca/5050