Iraq’s Basra launches new desalination project
Shafaq News – Basra
Iraq laid the foundation for a new water desalination plant in the southern province of Basra to address its worsening salinity crisis and supply clean drinking water to around 300,000 residents.
Basra Governor Asaad al-Eidani told Shafaq News on Wednesday that the facility will provide Deir, Nashwa, and al-Shafi districts with 4,000 cubic meters of potable water
“Coordination between the local government, the Prime Minister’s office, and relevant ministries has enabled the launch of multiple desalination projects across Iraq,” Al-Eidani noted, adding that seven plants have already reached the foundation stage.
This latest project, he said, is the eighth in a series aimed at ''improving water quality and alleviating residents’ hardships.’’
Home to roughly three million people, Basra has long struggled with saltwater intrusion from the Gulf and reduced freshwater inflow from the Tigris and Euphrates, making access to clean water one of Iraq’s most enduring challenges.
Read more: Basra’s lifeline poisoned: Salinity and pollution threaten Iraq’s south
