Thumama water project partial opening by year end

The Al Thumama water reservoir project (Package-C), part of the Water Mega Reservoir Project, will partially start operating by the end of this year, disclosed a top official of Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa).

“We will start pumping water from the project by the end of this year. It will be a partial opening. Later, we will lay the pipeline and open all the other facilities gradually. We hope to commission the whole project by the end of next year,” Ahmed Nasser al-Nasr, director, technical affairs, Kahramaa, explained.

Al-Nasr was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a contract signing between Kahramaa and Voltamp Oman for the supply of transformers.

The official also revealed that Kahramaa has started the work on a new power generation facility. “It is under the planning stage now. We have already identified the consultants for the project. We have applied to the municipality to allocate the land for the new facility.”

“We expect to start the work by next year. The location is not yet decided. We have identified three to four locations. Most probably, it could be in the north,” he noted.

Al-Nasr said that Kahramaa has completed a study on the use of ground water in the country. “We have identified all wells which are suitable for drinking water. We have also selected the ones that needed some treatment to be made suitable,” explained al-Nasr.

“Last year, we completed all the works to refurbish all those wells. Now they are fully equipped with RO (Reverse Osmosis) plants and filling stations. They are meant for potable drinking water supply, only in emergency situations,” he continued.

“The wells are spread all over Qatar and mainly in the north of Doha. They are fully ready for operation anytime,” highlighted the official.

According to the official, Qatar has about 20% reserve of drinking water at present.

“This will cover the demand for Qatar in the near future. Depending on the demand at later years, we will start the new generation facility. The water reserve mega project will increase the water reserve significantly,” maintained al- Nasr.

The official also pointed out that the power and water conservation effort has got very good responses from the citizens as well as the residents.

“We have introduced metre reading for Qataris and they receive text message about the use of water and power. The nationals have started responding very positively and it is reflected in the conservation efforts,” he added.