The Iraqi Red Crescent Society(IRCS) has opened Al-Rebat water unit in Basra in cooperation with Norwegian Red Cross and with the support of the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid.
“After great efforts, and to reduce water crisis and its salinity in Basra Governorate, the IRCS has opened Al-Rebat water unit in cooperation with the Norwegian Red Cross and funded by the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid, which is a large unit that provides water services suitable for human consumption for the people of Basra. ”, said Mr. Nawar Abdul Qadir the Head of structure and rehabilitation section in the IRCS.
Abdul Qadir confirmed that the work stages were implemented after field studies to determine the need of the families who are living in the city centre of Basra and nearby areas for usable water, the work has begun to replace the old dilapidated units and install new ones, and the production capacity of the units has reached more than (600 m²). /per Hour), the units operate 24 hours a day, and meet the needs of more than (80,000 citizens). the project was accomplished within 4 months only.
Mr. Nawar has Indicated that the work was done with a high level of accuracy, craftsmanship and skill to meet the needs of the residents in these areas, especially as we are at summer season doors, as modern devices have been used in the construction of the units to ensure the continuity of service to citizens, and their quality for a long life, as well as the IRCS’s endeavour to establish other units after complete their studies.
Mr. Abdul-Hadi Al-Musleh, the Technical Officer for water projects at the Norwegian Red Cross affirmed that with the support of the Norwegian Red Cross and with funding from the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid, the IRCS has installed water treatment units with their full production capacity (600 m² / per hour ), the production capacity of the first unit has reached (200 m² /per hour), while the second one has reached (400 m² / hour), and it provides its services to a number of Basra regions, including: Al-Hakimiyyah, Al-Ashar, Tamimiyah, Sawet, and others.
While the people of Al- Rebat region on which the project was built, they expressed their happiness with the completion of the project, Abu Ammar 50 years old , one of the elders in the region, said: “This project has greatly contributed to reduce water salinity and crisis, in addition to treat the scarcity of water suitable for human use and serving the people of the region because the unit is close to their homes, and covering their water needs after long suffering, Abu Ammar has also said that the residents of Al-Rebat and it’s surrounding areas suffer from water scarcity and salinity, which is a general problem in Basra, but after the completion of this project, the water will be sufficient, and the people have dispense the idea of buying water, and using small home water pumps.
It is worth mentioning that the above-mentioned project is a complementary project to the projects implemented by the IRCS in installing water treatment and desalination units since the start of water salinity crisis in Basra Governorate, as the number of projects implemented by the IRCS has reached more than (15 projects) since 2018, while the work continues in rehabilitating and maintaining heavy water treatment units in a number of hospitals in Basra, to reduce pollution, recycling water and treating it to be suitable for human use.
