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Press Release
31 July 08
DFID-funded water plant opens in Southern Iraq
A new water filtration unit that will provide daily drinking water for up to
half a million more people in Basra was opened today by the Deputy
Consul-General at the British Consulate, Fionna Gibb.
The project in Az Zubayr, which cost £1.25 million, was co-funded by DFIDand the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). It is one of the final projects of DFID’s £42 million Iraq Infrastructure Services Programme which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Local residents in Basra have to buy their water supply from vendors because tap water is not clean enough to drink. Most of the water these vendors sell is from the petrochemical plant in Az Zubayr. The plant produces clean water by reverse osmosis for industrial processes and sells any excess to the vendors.
Opening the plant, Fionna Gibb said:
“Water is essential for life and something that many people around the
world take for granted. Polluted tap water, such as the people of Basra are faced with,
is a serious health risk, and in the long term this will need to be addressed
through large-scale investments in water networks.
“In the meantime, the majority of Basrawis get their drinking water from street
vendors selling from reverse osmosis units such as the one in Az Zubayr. This
jointly funded DFID and UNICEF project will mean the vital equipment operates at
full capacity, boosting the supply of local clean water and providing enough for
an extra 500,000 people each day. This should also bring down the price and make
clean water available to more people who live further from Basra.
“I am confident that the Provincial Council will increasingly take the lead in
getting much needed improvement in essential services and I would like to
congratulate them for their continuing efforts to improve Basra."
The majority of damage to water infrastructure in Southern Iraq arises from a lack of maintenance and investment. DFID's initial focus therefore was to repair Basra's dilapidated infrastructure and restore basic services.
Note to editors
For further information contact Sarah Saxton on 020 7023 0944 or 020 7023 0600, or e-mail pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk or call our Public Enquiries Point on 0845 300 4100.
Links
- Millennium Development Goal 7: Environment, water and sanitation
- More about Iraq's infrastructure