Iraq: A Project to Address the Shortage in Potable Water Supply

On January 10, Iraq's Prime Minister and Minister of Municipalities and Public Works inaugurated the Al Samawa water plant, a $25.5 million state-of-the-art water treatment and monitoring facility, financed by the Bank's Emergency Water Supply, Sanitation, and Urban Rehabilitation Project. The largest capacity water project in Iraq since the 1990s, the plant will provide clean drinking water for over 250,000 people in the Al Muthana area in southern Iraq.The project is comprised of 13 components, one of which is the upgrading of the Al Samawa Water Supply System which specifically addresses the issues affecting the cities Al Samawa, Al Khidir and Al Suwair, and the ten large villages along the pipeline. The project consists of supply and installation of:

Eight water treatment units of 200m3/hr each (or a total of 32,000m3/day);
25 km of a new water pipeline;
A staging water tank with 2,500m3 capacity; and
Pumping stations.
Local teams in charge of operating the project received technical assistance in the design, supervision, operation and maintenance.

The impact of the project has measurable and tangible results:

It contributes to the reduction of water-born diseases;
It reduces women's time devoted to collecting water;
It eliminates the dependence on potable water delivered by tankers;
It improves families' living standards and conditions by increasing water supply and eliminating the need to purchase expensive and contaminated water; and
It increases local employment opportunities.