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Raw sewage remains a health hazard

[Iraq] Waste water treatment plants are in need of desperate repair across the country. UNOCHI/Barbara Manzi
Waste water treatment plants are in need of desperate repair across the country
Seeing standing pools of raw sewage in the street was not uncommon in the days immediately following hostilities in Iraq earlier this year. Dirty water can still be a problem, but it appears that the sewage, for the most part, is getting treated more efficiently than it was six months ago. "Things are getting better ‘shweye, shweye', or ‘little by little’," Geoffrey Keele, a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesman in the Jordanian capital, Amman, told IRIN, adding that the agency had done quite a bit of work to repair water and sanitation in Iraq. When it came to getting rid of the sewage, however, one of the problems was that the country had only three main waste-water-treatment plants, said Laurent Marion, who worked on UN Development Programme (UNDP) water and sanitation programmes in Iraq, but was evacuated to Amman following the 19 August truck bombing of the UN headquarters in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. After former President Saddam Hussein’s regime fell in April, none of the three sewerage plants remained operational, which had devastating short-term consequences. "Residents would complain and clean up the mess, but the sewage would return," Marion told IRIN in Amman. A US $4.4 million EU grant is being spent on sanitation repairs, and on the Iraq Reconstruction Employment Programme, which employs 250 workers to handle problems at existing treatment plants. Workers are currently cleaning sewerage systems in the worst-affected areas of the capital. Baghdad and its suburbs have 76 pumping stations, which are being reconditioned. Results look good in the neighbourhoods of Baghdad, but less so when it comes to the country’s environmental cleanliness - especially its rivers. Under Saddam Hussein, an estimated 1 million mt of raw sewage was being dumped directly into the rivers every day, Marion said. Residents told IRIN they warned their children constantly never to swim in the rivers, even during the summer heat. The sluggish Tigris river is a mucky green-brown colour as it flows through the capital. Even though UNDP has repaired various regional sewerage plants, the sewage has started running back into the river yet again. A pungent smell wafting over the fish restaurants, playgrounds and streets lining the Tigris in Baghdad has been the result. "We’re supposed to rehabilitate the plants to concentrate on pumping - to get the sewage out of the capital," Marion explained. It will take US $40 million to $60 million to change the current system, according to the aid worker. Adding to the problem is the fact that components from machinery at 13 regional plants were cannibalised to repair others during the 12 years of international sanctions against Iraq. About 230 treatment plants dot the country. During and after the war, looting brought many of them to a halt. The Al-Karkh sewage treatment plant just outside Baghdad, for example, had to operate 24 hours a day if the city was not to be inundated by foul-smelling sewage, Marion said. But residents say standing water on some streets comes from the city’s high water table, not necessarily problems with local treatment plants. "Baghdad is flat, so when pumping stops, it immediately floods," Marion remarked. The US private contractor, Bechtel, is also repairing sewerage plants and water lines around the country in a series of multimillion dollar projects, according to Cynthia Huger, a project manager. Many projects focus on getting river water back to areas from which it had been diverted, mostly in the south where Marsh Arabs saw their way of life dry up when Saddam Hussein diverted away the water they had been using for agriculture. Luckily, sabotage of water and sewer pipes has not been a big issue in recent months, according to Jan Kellett, another UNDP worker. But two months ago a hole was punched in a high-profile water pipe to the capital, leaving many residents waterless for four days. "People will come out and show you where the problems are," Kellett told IRIN in Amman, referring to the water and sewage lines. "A loss of electricity may smack people more immediately, but as soon as you walk out the door, if you’re hit by a sewage smell, that’s worse." UNICEF and UNDP agree that much still needs to be done to repair water and sewer infrastructure. UNDP recently stopped giving fuel and oil to the pumping stations, for example, following security incidents. Fuel distribution should be back on track soon, however, pending discussions with the mayor’s office in Baghdad. Both agencies continue to truck in potable water to communities affected by broken water pipes. Bottled water is also widely available from private vendors.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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