Iraq to Build Seawater Desalination Plant in Basra

Iraq has launched a project to build a sea water desalination plant in the Southern Basra province to tackle a drinking water supply shortage, an official said last week.

The facility will have a production capacity of 1 million litres per day and will supply drinking water to Basra city, Faw Port and other areas, said Ammar Al-Jabouri, head of the Water Department at the Construction and Housing Ministry.

Jabouri said the Ministry has contracted with ILF Consulting Engineers of Austria as a consultant for the project, which has been approved by the cabinet.

“This desalination plant will produce one million litres per day, it will supply potable water to Basra, Faw, Khor Zubair, Shatt Al-Arab, Umm Qasr and other areas,” Jabouri said without mentioning project cost and date of completion.