JURN — Helping the Iraqi people rebuild an infrastructure devastated from years of neglect under Saddam Hussein is the challenge placed before U.S. military Civil Affairs units in Iraq. Restoring essential services and helping the Iraqi people meet their basic needs without having to rely on the Coalition is the ultimate goal of reconstruction efforts.
As part of this overall mission, providing a clean and accessible water supply comes as another step towards the establishment of stable and sanitary living conditions for the people of Iraq. In the intense heat of an Iraqi summer, the need for clean drinking water is compounded. Yet for many small villages around the country, non-functional wells are a common occurrence.Thus, when on Aug. 22 U.S. civil affairs personnel in the village of Jurn opened a restored water well to residents, it was cause for celebration. The well will provide a source of clean drinking water to the community, and thus help curb the spread of water-related illnesses.
Money to complete the Jurn restoration came from the Commanders Emergency Relief Fund. Lisa Lawson, a project engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region North, explained: “CERP is a sub category under a funding called Iraqi Reconstruction & Relief Effort ... This is what Congress authorized to help restore Iraq.”
Other funds are going to restoration projects throughout Iraq's norther Ninevah province, helping revitalize the region after years of systematic neglect by Saddam.
For Jurn, the next phase of the well restoration will be the addition of a reverse osmosis filter. Maybe not state-of-the-art, but certainly not 1950's technology, either The filtration process reduces concentrations of dissolved solids in water, protecting against ions, metals and heavy particles. The method has been used extensively in other locations to convert brackish water to drinking quality, and to clean up wastewater. The enhancement to the Jurn well will provide a long-term solution to water quality issues that have plagued the community for years.