Kuwaitis selected for Umm Qasr Friendship Pipeline

11 April 2003
Plans to alleviate the chronic water shortages in southern Iraq are gathering pace, with a contract having been awarded to Kuwait's Kharafi Nationalfor the supply and installation of a pipeline from Rawdhatain in northern Kuwait to the port city of Umm Qasr. The cross border pipeline, known as the Friendship Pipeline, is being funded by the Kuwaiti government and will deliver up to 1 million litres a day of potable water to the local population.

The project entails the installation of 60 kilometres of 20-30-inch diameter pipeline and related facilities. Kuwait Pipe Industrieshas been subcontracted to supply the carbon steel pipeline. The client on the project is Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity & Water.

The project is being fast tracked to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of the local population in the southern province of Iraq. Water will be sourced from an aquifer in northern Kuwait, which is located under the Rawdhatain oil field.

The pipeline will go some way to meeting the immediate requirements for potable water in southern Iraq. At present, water needs in the Umm Qasr area are being met by a temporary 3.5-kilometre-long pipeline installed by the UK's Royal Engineers Corp (MEED 3:4:03).

Further work is expected in southern Iraq. Contractors have been approached to supply temporary reverse osmosis desalination units to the area, which is among the worst affected by a breakdown in the domestic water supply network since the outbreak of the conflict (see Construction, page 14).

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