His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of
the State of Qatar commissioned the Water Strategic Mega reservoirs Project in
a ceremony held by Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation “KAHRAMAA”
at Umm Slal water reservoirs site in the attendance of H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin
Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior,
H.E. Eng. Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for
Energy Affairs, H.E. Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al-Kuwari, KAHRAMAA President, dignitaries,
diplomats, and senior officials from the public sector and the contracting
companies.
The ceremony started with a recitation of the Holy
Quran, and included a speech for H.E. Eng. Saad bin Sherida
Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs and H.E. Eng. Essa bin
Hilal Al-Kuwari, KAHRAMAA President. A film visualizing the project details and
challenges was presented as well.
The ceremony witnessed the official commissioning of
the Water Strategic Mega Reservoirs Project by H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al
Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar.
The total capacity of the Water strategic mega reservoirs
project is 1500 MIG, which covers the storage requirements up to 2026. It adds
155% to the current water storage capacity of 900 MIG. It comes as an
implementation of H.H. 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 Slal, Rawdat Rashed, Abu Nakhla, and Al Thumama. Each site covers
roughly 1 km2. 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 MIG to earn Guinness World Record for world largest drinking
water storage tank and largest drinking water storage tanks network. KAHRAMAA
has installed over 650 km of large diameter pipelines connect the desalination
plants in the north and the south together with the 5 sites to ensure water
flow in both directions with operational flexibility to meet any emergency. The
total cost of the project is QR. 14.5 billions.
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