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From Water and Wastewater.com Industry News
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 Workers continued placing concrete foundations for treatment units, as work moves forward on the refurbishment of a water treatment plant in Karbala. The plant is located in the city’s center, near one of Shia Islam’s holiest shrines. In addition to providing water to city residents, potable water is supplied seasonally to an estimated three million pilgrims. 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. Recently, work continued on connecting compact units to raw water lines using PVC pipe. Concrete will be poured next week for the foundation pads of one compact unit. Installation of equipment is ongoing and the first flows are expected in July. The project is now 26 percent finished and will be complete in the fall of 2005. Work is 81 percent complete to rehabilitate the water and sewage treatment plant facilities serving rural, north-central Diyala Governorate. The plants require rehabilitation and expansion to better serve the 60,000 residents of the region. Currently, the water treatment plant is operating well below capacity and is only providing 33 percent of the potable water needed for the region. As a result, many residents rely on untreated well water (contaminated by canal water) during summer months. Use of untreated water can lead to outbreaks of dangerous water-born diseases like typhoid and cholera. This project is set for completion in the summer of 2005. To ameliorate water shortages in Sadr City, Baghdad, a modern water treatment plant will be designed and constructed to increase the quantity and quality of potable water to the neighborhood. Work in progress includes design reviews, shop drawings, and schedule submittals. Engineers are adjusting the foundation design to offer alternatives between raft and pile foundations. Surveying for filter building, guard house, and boundary fence has been completed. This is one of the most densely-populated (2.5 million residents) and high growth districts of Baghdad. Current plans call for construction of a 25 MGD plant. Extensive Operations and Maintenance training will be provided to the plant’s O&M staff as a part of this project. Source: USAID, http://www.usaid.gov/ © Copyright 1998 - 2008 Water and Wastewater.com |
