Water purification in the Middle East crisis: a survey on WTP and CU in Basrah (Iraq) area within a research and development program

This paper describes part of the emergency rehabilitation works in water sector in Southern Iraq, immediately after the Second Gulf War. The first section is a survey on surface water availability in Iraq, while the second section is focused on water resources in Basrah Governatorate. The third one describes the main working principles of compact units (CU) and water treatment plants (WTP), focusing on the problems pointed out by CIRPS on field researcher during the assessment phase of the projects. In conclusion, some details of the rehabilitation process are described.

Within the above framework and according to the coordination meetings held in the period May– December 2003, the fastest way to restore a minimal supply of treated drinkable water in the region should follow the following steps: • Improve the capacity of R0. • Connect all the WTP and CU to this pumping station. • Restore to a proper functioning of the plants in the region. • Rehabilitate the network. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank UPP Italian and Iraqi staff. The rehabilitation works have been funded with EU-ECHO funds, UNHCR funds and Provincia Autonoma di Trento funds.