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Sweet Water Canal Project
Basrah, Iraq
October, 2003
Loaders remove accumulaed silt from a section of 1 of 2 storage reservoirs in the Sweet Water Canal project that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
Loaders remove accumulaed silt from a section of 1 of 2 storage reservoirs in the Sweet Water Canal project that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
Senior Civil Engineer of the US Army Corp of Engineers, Chris Alfonso and Iraqi Site Engineer, Abdul Karim Ali inspect ongoing work at the Sweet Water Canal project. Since 1996 the canal has supplied all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
Security Guard, Hussain Gauwy watches as fishermen remove fish from a reservoir on the Sweet Water Canal that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
Two storage reservoirs (on R & L) of the Sweet Water Canal control flow of fresh water downstream. The project supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
Fishermen use nets to catch fish from a spillway in the Sweet Water Canal project that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The reservoirs must be drained before the accumulated silt can be removed. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
A fisherman holds a fish trapped netted in the Sweet Water Canal project that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The reservoirs must be drained before the accumulated silt can be removed. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.

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Accomplishments: Water and Sanitation

Iraq's operating capacity for its 140 major water treatment facilities was 3 million cubic meters a day before the war. Today, facilities operate at about 65% of that level, primarily due to years of neglect, electricity shortages and post-war looting of plant and emergency generators. Iraq has 13 major sewage treatment plants. Baghdad's three sewage treatment plants, which together comprise three-quarters of the nation's sewage treatment capacity, are inoperable, allowing the waste from 3.8 million people to flow untreated directly into the Tigris River. In the rest of the country, most sewage treatment plants were only partially operational prior to the conflict, and shortages of electricity, parts, and chemicals have exacerbated the situation.

Water that is pumped through the system is largely untreated, especially in the south. USAID's goal is to improve the efficiency and reliability of existing water treatment facilities, especially those located in the south where water quantity and quality are particularly low. To increase the water supply, work is underway to rehabilitate 15 water treatment facilities and portions of the Sweet Water Canal to Basrah. USAID-supported water and sanitation projects will benefit over 14.5 million Iraqis.

Water Accomplishments

    Photo:
    Local children swimming in a leak pond created by a break in the water line. (Photo: Capt Stuart Bage, STRE)
  • Immediately after the war, USAID repaired hundreds of critical breaks in Baghdad's water network, increasing water flow by 2 million liters a day.
  • In Basrah, water supply has been restored to prewar levels through rapid response grants. More than 1.6 million people now have access to water.
  • At Baghdad's Sharkh Dijlah water plant (previously called Saba Nissan water plant), new construction will add 2.25 million liters a day to the water supply by May 2004-a 40 percent increase in water supply benefiting 640,000 eastern Baghdad residents.
  • Restoration of the Safwan water pumping station has been completed. All 40,000 residents now have access to potable drinking water.
  • Forty-eight compact water treatment plants in An Najaf and Karbala have been rehabilitated, providing potable water to 100,000 people.
  • Rehabilitating the Sweet Water Canal, which provides drinking water to 1.75 million residents of Basrah city. It had been operating at less than half capacity.
    • The project will renovate the entire system, including the canal, reservoirs, and water treatment plants, restoring operation to full capacity.
    • Sediment removal and repairs to the concrete walls and floor of the first of two sediment retention ponds and reservoirs have been completed.
  • Back-up electrical generators are being installed at 37 Baghdad water facilities and pumping stations to ensure continuous water supply.
  • USAID partner CARE is repairing and rehabilitating water provision systems throughout central and southern Iraq increasing access to clean water for rural populations, with a special focus on providing clean water to rural schools and rural health centers.
    Sediment retention pond/reservoir before and after dredging

Sanitation Accomplishments

  • Baghdad's three sewage treatment plants-Rustimiyah, Rustimiyah 3, and Kerkh-will be repaired and running at full capacity by October 2004, serving 3.8 million residents.
    • Seventy of Baghdad's 90 non-functioning waste pumping stations have been rehabilitated.
  • The Diwaniyah and Karbala' sewage treatment plants, which serve 200,000 residents and currently discharging untreated waste into the Euphrates River, are being repaired.
  • Sewage treatment plants in An Najaf and Al Hillah that serve 194,000 residents are being restored to full capacity.

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Last Updated on: January 05, 2004