Amir inaugurates Water Security Mega Reservoirs Project

Doha: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani inaugurated the Water Security Mega Reservoirs Project, which is the largest of its kind in the world, yesterday in Umm Salal Ali. The QR14.5bn project has a total water storage capacity of about 1,500 million gallons, and was implemented by Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa).

After the inauguration, H H the Amir visited the reservoirs and the operation room.

The opening ceremony was attended by Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani; Minister of State for Energy Affairs H E Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi; Kahramaa President Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, dignitaries, diplomats and senior officials from the public sector and the contracting companies.

Addressing the opening ceremony, H E Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi said that the project is the largest in the world and contains a huge strategic reservoir that raises the country’s water storage by about 1,500 million gallons, which is an increase of 155 percent. He pointed out that this phase of the project will ensure water security for the State until 2026, followed by future stages that will meet water demand even after the year 2036 by adding additional reservoirs.

It is a key project in achieving the country’s water security and a clear declaration of the ability and readiness of the water sector in the State of Qatar to meet the development requirements witnessed by the country in the present and future, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs said.

Kahramaa President Eng. Issa bin Hilal Al Kuwari said that the project began as a vision; and a creative and innovative solution to achieve the water security of the State of Qatar since 2007.

He explained that by operating this large project, several key issues will be achieved within Qatar’s water security strategy, including the increase of desalinated water storage to 2,400 million gallons per day, which is enough to meet the basic needs of the State for several months under different operating conditions.

He said that in addition, by operating this project, Qatar will be able to connect water production plants in the north of the country with plants in the southern area.

The total capacity of the Water Security Mega Reservoirs Project is 1,500 million gallons, which covers the storage requirements up to 2026. It adds 155 percent to the current water storage capacity of 900 million gallons.

It comes as an implementation of H H the Amir’s vision to achieve Qatar water security. It marks the largest expansion of Qatar water storage capacity ever. The project promotes Qatar’s water security by providing a secured and balanced water storage to ensure water supply to all sectors and meet the increasing needs resulted in the population growth and the comprehensive development the State witnesses.

The project is located in five strategic sites: Umm Birka, Umm Salal, Rawdat Rashed, Abu Nakhla, and Al Thumama and each site covers roughly 1sqkm. The project consists of 15 of the world’s largest concrete reservoirs. Each reservoir is 300M long, 150M wide, and 12M high, at a capacity of around 100 million gallons to earn Guinness World Record for world largest drinking water storage tank and largest drinking water storage tanks network.

Kahramaa has installed over 650km of large diameter pipelines connect the desalination plants in the north and the south together with the five sites to ensure water flow in both directions with operational flexibility to meet any emergency.

Sites have been selected based on a thorough study, Rawdat Rashed sites is located at the highest point of project route to allow gravity flow water distribution at emergency with no electric power at emergency.

The five sites are designed to allow future expansion and the construction of additional reservoirs with no need to install more pipelines.

To avoid water stagnation, the interior design of the reservoir allows water movement from entry to exit without electric power. Moreover, water quality is monitored around the clock using state of the art technologies.

It is worth to mention that Kahramaa has completed the first phase of the project with the soft commissioning of some reservoirs in June 2018, now, all primary works has been completed to start reservoir filling. Kahramaa has plans for future expansion with a total of 40 reservoirs with approximate capacity of 4,000 million gallons to meet requirements up to 2036.

By Sanaullah Ataullah / The Peninsula

دشّن حضرة صاحب السمو الشيخ تميم بن حمد آل ثاني أمير البلاد المفدى، مشروع الخزانات الاستراتيجية الكبرى لتأمين المياه، وذلك خلال الحفل الذي أقامته المؤسسة العامة القطرية للكهرباء والماء «كهرماء» في منطقة أم صلال علي، صباح أمس. وخلال الحفل عُرض فيلم قصير عن الأهمية الاستراتيجية للمشروع، الذي يعد الأكبر من نوعه في المنطقة والعالم، بسعة إجمالية حوالي 1500 مليون جالون، وعن حجم العمل فيه، إضافة إلى مراحل تطوره منذ عام 2015.

سمو الأمير: إنجاز كبير في استراتيجية أمننا المائي

‏غرّد حضرة صاحب السمو الشيخ تميم بن حمد آل ثاني أمير البلاد المفدى، على حساب سموه بموقع «تويتر»، بمناسبة تدشين مشروع الخزانات الاستراتيجية الكبرى لتأمين المياه، قائلاً: «أنجزنا في قطر اليوم بفضل الله أحد أهم مشاريعنا الحيوية بتدشين سلسلة خزانات مائية عملاقة تضاعف قدرتنا التخزينية، وتؤمن تدفق المياه إلى كل القطاعات في كافة أنحاء دولة قطر». وأكد صاحب السمو على أن «هذا إنجاز كبير، لأنه يمثل الركيزة الأساسية في استراتيجية أمننا المائي، وأحد الأهداف الكبرى في رؤية 2030».;