Treated waste water supplied to farms helps boost food security
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 24: Many people tend to overlook the key role of managing the operation and maintenance of pumping stations and sewage purification, that helps preserve the marine and terrestrial environment from pollution, thanks to waste water treatment, which is then supplied to the Al-Wafra and Abdali farms to satisfy their needs with treated water for their crops which helps enhance food security in the country, reports Al-Rai daily.
When the Al-Rai daily visited the pumping and purification stations control center in Ardhiya, the director of the Department of Operation and Maintenance of Pumping and Treatment Stations and Treated Water Purification Stations in the Sanitary Engineering Sector, Ali Abu Al-Banat, explained the efforts exerted by the administration employees in the operations and maintenance of the stations, in order to preserve the environment from any pollutants and to save the treated water to be used for field crops.
While referring to the separation of the sewage network lines from the rainwater network lines, in order to preserve the treated wastewater from any contaminants that may be attached to it after being treated, he pointed out some people sometimes open the sewage network manholes covers, as a result of rainwater mixes with the sewage water which is one of the causes why the sewage water overflows.
He said, the sanitation networks do not have any design problems, but they always bear the brunt when someone opens the manholes. This is in addition to some plot owners who discreetly connect their waste water line directly to the sewage networks.
He explained the sanitary engineering sector is one of the most important sectors of the ministry as it plays a vital and effective role in protecting the environment and preserving the health of citizens and residents in Kuwait, as well as its role in renewing its infrastructure in its various dispersed areas, pointing out that the administration always seeks to make the most of treated wastewater. The waste water is treated using the latest international technology and techniques in line with the standards adopted by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
Regarding what is being said from time to time about a lot of confusion between the problems caused by rainwater networks and sewage networks, he said, “The ministry usually makes preparations three or four months before the onset of the rainy season by cleaning the networks associated with rain and sewers related to it, so that these networks can absorb the rain that fall in the winter season, affirming that the sewage network lines are separated from the rainwater network lines.”
He added, the ministry plays an effective role in monitoring networks, whether related to rain or wastewater, and to uncover illegal connections in coordination with the EPA and takes legal action against violators.
For her part, the chief industrial engineer in the Department of Operations and Maintenance of Stations, Huda Al-Langawi, said she supervises 7 purification plants distributed over the regions of Kuwait, the largest of which is the Sulaibiya purification plant, which has a capacity of 600,000 cubic meters, which is not the largest in Kuwait alone but rather it is the largest in the world in terms of treatment quality.
Al-Langawi indicated the ministry produces approximately one million cubic meters of treated water per day and pointed out that all pumping and purification stations are linked to the control center in Ardhiya, which is considered the operation room of the sanitary engineering sector.