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Qatar tribune
The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) announced today,Saturday 16 November, 2019the completion of works of theReclamation and Rehabilitation project in Al Karaana Lagoon. The announcement came during a field visit to the project site in the presence of H.E. Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmad Al Muhannadi, President of Ashghal, Eng. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Sada, the Assistant Undersecretary for Environmental Affairs in the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), a number of Ministries’ Undersecretaries and Assistant Undersecretaries, and H.E. Frank Gillet, French Ambassador to Qatar.
The event was also attended byofficials from MME, CMC member for Constituency 22, representatives of a number of environmental entities, and residents of Al Karaana area. A group of students from Al-Karaana Independent School for Boysalso participated in planting trees at the site.
The project aimed at removing pollutants and minimising health risks to the environment surrounding Al Karaana lagoons, which had been used for more than ten years in dumbing industrial effluents. The project also aims to protect and enhance the Qatari environment by rehabilitating the area and transforming it from an unfavorable habitat into a wildlife habitat with diverse species of birds and fish. It also provides a green rest stop with clean water for migratory birds flocking over the country.
On this occasion, H.E. Eng. Saad bin Ahmad Al Muhannadi, President of the Public Works Authority, said: “Al Karaana Lagoon area has been transformed from a harmful environment into a healthy natural environment and home to wildlife. We are proud of this important achievement being a new evidence of the continuous efforts made by the various entities in the country, chiefly the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, to provide sustainable solutions to protect the environment and reduce the causes of pollution.”
For his part, Eng. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Sada, the Assistant Undersecretary for Environmental Affairs in the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, stated that the rehabilitation project of Al Karaana Lagooon is an important step in the efforts of all concerned entities to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030 in the field of environmental sustainability, as well as protecting Qatar's environmental heritage and contributing to its prosperity. The project also contributes to increasing green spaces in the country, besides reducing environmental and health risks of industrial waste and pollutants.
H.E. Frank Gillet, French Ambassador to Qatar, expressed his happiness for the great cooperation between France and Qatar in the field of environmental preservation, and the completion of the project of reclamation and rehabilitation of land in Lake Karaana, noting that Qatar is not only committed to the internal environment through this project but also globally.
Eng. Khalid Al Kayareen, Drainage Networks Projects Department Manager at Ashghal saidthat the completion of this project is a new accomplishment added to the authority’s efforts in the field of environmental protection. He added: “we accelerated the pace of works despite the challenges facing the project implementation, especially those related to managing and treating contaminated residue while continuing to receive liquid industrial waste at the same location, as well as avoiding groundwater contamination and minimising disturbance to residential areas near the lagoon.”
Al-Karaana Lagoon, located 60 km southwest of Doha, was once home to 10 separate lagoons not lined with an insulating layer. It had been used since 2006 to receive about 6,000 cubic metres of industrial wastewaterevery day, resulting in accumulation of sediments and solids at the bottom of the lagoons, and the formation of a contaminated layer (sludge) of up to 3.5 m in some areas.
The project re-establishedthe area by draining the old lagoons and treating the contaminated soil at their bottom, using international expertise to assess the levels of pollution and treatment of all contaminated sediments directly at the site, in order to re-establish the natural area and ensure the protection of the environment.
One of the most important components of the project are the three artificial lagoons which weredesigned to store about 2.4 million cubic metres of treated sewage effluent coming from Al Karaana treatment plant.
With clean water and green areas around them, the artificial lagoons form a new healthy habitat for wildlife, and they now include various types of birds, swans, fish, frogs and others.
The project also included the construction of two temporary evaporation ponds for industrial effluent, with a storage capacity of 1.2 million cubic metre of liquid waste. The ponds are protected with a strong insulating layer that prevents leakage of contaminated water into the groundwater, with oil separation units. The evaporation ponds are operational since one year and will remain in use until the completion of the new industrial wastewater treatment station. It is worth mentioning that the evaporation process is a completely natural process that depends sunlight and heat.
The project also used a Mobile Thermal Drying Unit which imported from the Netherlands especiallyto treat highly contaminated soil by heating the soil up to 400°C. About 40,000 tons of sludge were treated and then moved to a landfill designed and built to the highest international standards.

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16/11/2019
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