Positivity: Over 4,200 Iraqi homes benefit from water and sewer system
From Centcom:
osul, Iraq - The Baqubah Directorate General of Water, the Ministry of Interior, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) worked diligently to complete a water and sewer system that will benefit 4,280 Iraqi homes. The project included designing and building a water supply and sewer distribution system in Baqubah, the provincial seat of Diyala.
Construction on the new facility began in May 2005. Since that time, the project employed an average of 250 local Iraqi construction workers including pipe fitters, plumbers, electricians, masons, carpenters, plasterers, truck drivers, and backhoe operators. The project was scheduled for completion today.
“The contractors corrected deficiencies early and worked effectively to complete this facility a month ahead of schedule,†said USACE Construction Representative for the project, Joaquin Duenas.
The old water system provided potable water to a limited portion of the city and needed significant upgrades to improve service and provide a safe water supply to the community. The system had not kept abreast of growth and dated back to when workers used construction materials such as asbestos cement pipe.
Only small portions of the city had a wastewater collection network; a large portion of the city used the storm water system that emptied wastewater directly into the Diyala River.
The new system consists of the most modern, highest quality of locally available and imported materials and serves a larger section of the community than the network it replaced. Additionally, it eliminates the need to connect to the storm water system and stops the discharge of pollution and health hazards into the river.
