---

By Cassandra Nelson
Reuters AlertNet
http://www.alertnet.org/
Mercy Corps - USA
http://www.mercycorps.org
June 26 2003

---

Mesopotamia: The valley of the great two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. Beginning c. 3000 BC, there flourished a civilization of opulent cities, powerful gods and mighty monarchs that blossomed for nearly three thousand years. But today, this glorious past lay buried and forgotten by much of the world.

The Tigris and Euphrates are still the life source of present-day Iraq, supplying the country's people with water for drinking and irrigating crops. But today the Euphrates is too salinated for agricultural use, and the Tigris is so polluted it threatens the life of the people who depend on it.

"The water of the Tigris River is highly polluted," says Attilio Lenzi, Senior Water and Sanitation Program Manager working with Mercy Corps in southern Iraq. "Over 500,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage is dumped into the river every day. This is the water that is used for drinking, so it must be treated."

Indeed, assessments carried out by Mercy Corps in Wassit province since the end of the war, have indicated serious interrelated problems in the water and sewage systems that, if ignored, are likely to cause serious health hazards due to drinking polluted water and poor sanitation conditions. Cases of water borne diseases have already been reported in many villages.

With funding from the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) Mercy Corps is working to ensure the rural communities of Wassit province have access to clean drinking water. The program targets six of the most vulnerable districts in the province: Al-Numania, Al-Ahrar, Al-Swera, Al-Azizia, Sheik Sa'ad, and Al-Hai and will assist over 400,000 people.

Saleema, a resident of Al-Ahrar district, lives in a two-room home made of mud bricks much like the ones inhabited there over 5000 years ago. She walks to a muddy irrigation canal over eight times a day to collect water. In 1992, Baathist officials took away the water pump, leaving 350 residents without water.

Brushing the algae aside as she dips her old cooking kettle into the dirty canal Saleema explains, "I know this water is polluted, but what choice do I have? This is the only water we have. Before the war, I used to boil it, but now there is no cooking fuel available for the stove."

Mercy Corps has identified the faults in the rural water distribution and purification system and the need for critical elements such as pumps, electrical connection to existing grid, generators, intake pipes, and storage containers. The program will enable rapid input of essential materials and equipment, and use of skilled and unskilled local labor to install and repair the water system.

"This is only the start," says Lenzi. "In the more remote areas there is no water distribution at all. We are planning to work in these areas, too. There is a lot of work to be done."

---

Direct Link:
--http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/105664124641.htm

---