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Washington, DC -- Weekly Update -- This fact sheet highlights overall accomplishments and some weekly activities from USAID’s reconstruction efforts in Iraq. For more information on USAID’s programs in Iraq please see: www.usaid.gov/iraq
Program Overview
USAID's goal is to improve the efficiency and reliability of existing water and wastewater treatment facilities, especially those in the south where water quantity and quality are particularly low. An anticipated 11.8 million Iraqis will benefit from USAID's $600 million in water and sanitation projects.
HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK
Work at Karbala’s Water Treatment Plant continues. Contractors are currently installing chlorine piping and ground systems for all five clarifier units. USAID anticipates that half the units will be operational and producing drinking water by mid-July. USAID continues to train Iraqis who operate the clarifier units and the low lift station. The project is 78 percent finished and is expected to be complete in September 2005.
The plant’s original clarifiers were replaced with four undersized clarifiers that did not treat water to standards needed for efficient downstream treatment. Some of the plant’s processes were becoming overloaded by sediment. Marginal disinfection was effective with most bacteria, but was less effective with pathogens that cause amoebic dysentery, a public health risk exacerbated by the seasonal influx of millions of pilgrims. Because it was in such a dire state of disrepair, the design originally called for replacing the clarifiers rather than repairing them. However, local governing authorities disagreed. A compromise was reached to install compact clarifier units adjacent to the existing clarifiers, allowing for future rehabilitation of the existing plant. Workers will install 10 compact clarifier units, with a total capacity of 25 million gallons per day. The project will also enlarge the existing inlet works and associated pump station.
USAID contractors are rehabilitating a sewage trunkline in a poor, southeastern Baghdad neighborhood. The current system does not meet the growing needs of the community; it is undersized and unreliable due to collapsed, damaged, and deteriorated pipes which leak and block the flow. Neighborhood residents endure frequent overflows of raw sewage in their homes and streets. Exposed pools of raw sewage can contribute to the spread of communicable diseases.
The project consists of four phases to augment the existing sewer lines. The first phase will include the installation of a forced-main sewer, consisting of a 900mm diameter pipe that will run 5.5 km to a sewage treatment plant in Rustimiyah. The second phase will install 3.7 km of 1400 mm gravity-flow sewer line, including manholes. The last two phases involve the installation of two different pump stations, each requiring a total of 10 pumps and supporting electrical systems. Standby diesel generators will sustain reliable pump operation independent of the local electrical grid at these two stations. Gravity sewer subcontractors continued installing the 1400mm pipe and constructing manholes.
Contractors are excavating and placing the 900mm force main pipe and the construction of valve vaults at the overflow bypass and at the force main discharge to the existing trunk sewer upstream of the Rustimiyah Waste Water Treatment Plant. Crews continue to work anchorage points for the pipe bridge over the Army Canal. Subcontractors are relocating a pump station three meters to the south of the original site.
The project is expected to be completed by December 2005. Operations and maintenance training will be provided for Baghdad Mayoralty staff to ensure the system is properly managed after it is turned over to the city government.
Source: USAID, http://www.usaid.gov/
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