TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
IN a major milestone for Qatar, the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) is constructing what would become the largest water reservoir in the world. The project is being implemented in view of the population growth and urban development witnessed in Qatar, Head of Water Projects Section at Kahramaa Eng. Jabr Rashed al Nuaimi has said.
The Water Security Mega Reservoirs Project was launched in several phases, starting with the sites study and design phase. The sites for the reservoir were selected in five locations based on population distribution in the country.
The reservoirs are planned to be constructed in five locations -- Um Baraka, Um Salal, Rawdat Rashid, Abu Nakhla, and Al Thumama.
The second phase of the project comprised site equipping and drilling works which was completed successfully. The third phase entailed the construction of water reservoirs, the largest in the world, with each reservoir having the capacity of 100 million gallons of water.
In a report broadcast from Umm Salal site on Qatar TV, Nuaimi revealed that more than 70% of construction on the reservoirs has been completed and the facility is now in the testing phase. Besides, the water pipelines work is almost 95% complete and is now in testing phase, and will be connected to the five reservoirs.
The next phase involves construction of the pumps building, which is a very important part, for which the latest technologies have been used. A considerable progress has been made in construction works.
The linking phase comes next, where the reservoirs are linked with each other through water pipelines with distance of up to 660 km. The pipelines, which link the reservoirs from North to South, are imported
by air from France and Japan through the largest cargo aircraft in the world which weigh about 70 times the Eiffel Tower.
The project aims to raise the strategic reserves of water to last until 2026. The total value of the contracts is around QR17 billion. The project, announced in mid-March 2015, was launched to build mega water reservoirs and extend water pipelines in mid-May of the same year with a total capacity of about 2,300 million gallons of water.
This strategic project entails the largest expansion of Qatar’s water reserves ever with the objective of raising the country’s strategic water reserves to 2026 as a first phase.
The Water Security Mega Reservoirs Project will deliver storage capacity of about 2,300 million gallons of water in 24 huge concrete reservoirs, with a capacity of about 100 million gallons of water per each reservoir as a largest concrete reservoir in the world.
The designs of the second phase have been created in a way to be in line with the water demand in the country until 2036. The number of reservoirs will reach 40 with a capacity of about 3,800 million gallons of water.
This is one of the most pivotal projects in Qatar as it raises the strategic water reserves to meet future needs, thereby ensuring water security and the quality of services provided by Kahramaa.
In addition, 650 km of large-diameter water pipes will be extended during the first phase. The reservoirs will cover an area of about one square km in each location.The design and the locations
of the reservoirs will enable Kahramaa to receive desalinated water from Ras Laffan in the north and Ras Abu Fontas in the South and will also facilitate linking of these reservoirs with the existing water distribution network to meet the demand of the rapid population growth.