Courtesy Photo | Lt. Col. David Davidson, a Lewisburg, Tenn., native, and the deputy commanding officer...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Waldemar Rivera
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division Public Affairs
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – The Karkh water treatment plant in Taji, northwest of Baghdad, has been under construction and undergoing upgrades since its near destruction in 2005.
Lt. Col. Paul Williams, an Iuka, Miss., native, who is the officer in charge of the United States Army Corps of Engineers Taji Area, visited the Karkh Water Treatment Plant to check progress on the work taking place May 14.
He was joined by Lt. Col. David Davidson, a Lewisburg, Tenn., native, who serves as the deputy commander for 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team "Warrior," 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. The two leaders are in charge of overseeing the progress of the work being done at the water treatment plant.
"The mission was to check the progress of the contractors working out there," said Capt. Mark Gilliam, a Las Vegas native, 2nd SBCT engineer planner.
The USACE contractors are heavily involved in civil work, added Gilliam.
"The building for the Karkh Water Treatment Plant was completely destroyed by a (vehicle-born improvised-explosive device) parked outside the building in July 2005," Gilliam said.
The VBIED destroyed the building's circuitry, switch gears, circuit breakers, generators and auxiliaries in addition to the air-conditioning power systems.
"They just demolished the building," said Gilliam.
The near destruction of the plant caused water problems for many residents in Baghdad. The facility supplies one-half of the potable water used in Baghdad – approximately 1.3 million litters (roughly 345,000 gallons) of potable water per day, which is piped through a two meter line that runs from the plant all the way to Baghdad.
If power goes down in the area, said Gilliam, the facility shuts off and water supply will stop for approximately 4 million residents. The facility only has a three-day reserve.
"The United States Army Corp of Engineers came here to rebuild the facility, to fix the back-up generators and the circuitry that goes to the back of the generators," explained Gilliam, adding that the Government of Iraq is working with USACE to ensure the facility will run properly.
Workers have recently completed installing new switches and are getting ready to "plug in," said Gilliam
For the past three years, Karkh Water Treatment Plant was unsafe and barely able to provide water to Baghdad residents, said Gilliam, but that will soon change.
"We are getting to the end of the project," said Gilliam. "There are still a few things to do, but we are almost complete in the civil works side.
A lot of positive work has been done, added Davidson, but there are still challenges facing the refurbishment of the facility.
"The side of the facility where the generator number one and generator number two are placed do not show much improvement yet other than the contractors have cleaned up the area from debris and it looks clean and a lot better than before," said Davidson.
Williams and Davidson said they are pleased with the progress on the facility and that they are looking forward to getting the generators started and the job finished.
When the Karkh Water Treatment Plant project is completed and running at its full potential, it will be another successful joint endeavor project accomplished by the Corps of Engineers and the government of Iraq, said Gilliam.
| Date Taken: | 05.18.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 05.18.2008 10:28 |
| Story ID: | 19559 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 943 |
| Downloads: | 868 |
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