USAID: Improving Iraqi quality of life
BAGHDAD — The United States Agency for International Development, better known around the world as USAID, is making drastic improvements to the Iraqi infrastructure and improving the quality of life for millions.
The agency maintains a myriad of projects at any given time, and spends millions of dollars to see them through from start to finish. Whether it’s improving Iraqi canals, ensuring local populations have clean drinking water or restoring city markets, the USAID footprint is prominent and welcome here.
One such undertaking was a massive project resulting in 1.75 million Basrah citizens gaining access to fresh drinking water. The aim: upgrade the Sweet Water canal to modern times.
The Sweet Water Canal , constructed in 1996 to supply water to Iraqis, pumps water to twenty-three plants around Basrah City which treat and distribute water into the city. Saddam Hussein’s old regime neglected the operation, and hadn’t conducted maintenance since 1999. This resulted in the facility operating at less than half its capacity, leaving more than 80 percent of the treated water unfit to drink.
At a cost of almost $38 million, the entire system is being rehabilitated by USAID to return essential services to Iraq . The 240-kilometer canal, its two pump stations, two reservoirs, and fourteen water treatment stations are all being repaired and rehabilitated.
Work has included dredging and cleaning the canal and reservoirs, refurbishing pump stations, providing backup power sources, repairing canal embankments, and replacing worn and broken parts.
Some of the canal's water treatment stations date to 1932 and upkeep was minimal. The canal and its reservoirs were filled in places with up to two meters of sediment, and vegetation was growing on the surface. A lack of dredging reduced the effectiveness of the reservoirs, and the high solids content of the water increased wear on the pumps.
By mid-spring 2004, residents of Al Basrah saw substantial improvements in their water supply, and by summer the quality and volume of fully treated water will surpass pre-war conditions. Continued.
The agency maintains a myriad of projects at any given time, and spends millions of dollars to see them through from start to finish. Whether it’s improving Iraqi canals, ensuring local populations have clean drinking water or restoring city markets, the USAID footprint is prominent and welcome here.
One such undertaking was a massive project resulting in 1.75 million Basrah citizens gaining access to fresh drinking water. The aim: upgrade the Sweet Water canal to modern times.
The Sweet Water Canal , constructed in 1996 to supply water to Iraqis, pumps water to twenty-three plants around Basrah City which treat and distribute water into the city. Saddam Hussein’s old regime neglected the operation, and hadn’t conducted maintenance since 1999. This resulted in the facility operating at less than half its capacity, leaving more than 80 percent of the treated water unfit to drink.
At a cost of almost $38 million, the entire system is being rehabilitated by USAID to return essential services to Iraq . The 240-kilometer canal, its two pump stations, two reservoirs, and fourteen water treatment stations are all being repaired and rehabilitated.
Work has included dredging and cleaning the canal and reservoirs, refurbishing pump stations, providing backup power sources, repairing canal embankments, and replacing worn and broken parts.
Some of the canal's water treatment stations date to 1932 and upkeep was minimal. The canal and its reservoirs were filled in places with up to two meters of sediment, and vegetation was growing on the surface. A lack of dredging reduced the effectiveness of the reservoirs, and the high solids content of the water increased wear on the pumps.
By mid-spring 2004, residents of Al Basrah saw substantial improvements in their water supply, and by summer the quality and volume of fully treated water will surpass pre-war conditions. Continued.
posted by Rosemary Welch at 11/05/2006 06:27:00 AM
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