The wilaya of El Tarf in Algeria has just taken another step forward in terms of drinking water supply. On 7 September 2023, Algeria’s Minister of Public Works, Hydraulics and Basic Infrastructure, Taha Derbal, inaugurated a new drinking water plant in the council of Asfour, formerly known as Combes during the French colonial period.
The plant, presented as a one-piece facility, has a daily production capacity of 8,640 m3, or 360 m3 per minute. This is enough to supply 20,000 people in the commune of Asfour for six hours a day. This will help reduce water shortages, partly due to drought.
According to the Algerian authorities, the drinking water project cost 600 million Algerian dinars, or nearly 4.1 million euros. “It is important to take into account the problems of citizens in the area of drinking water supply and to resolve them as quickly as possible”, explained Taha Derbal, the Algerian Minister of Public Works, Hydraulics and Basic Infrastructures, at the inauguration of the Asfour drinking water treatment plant.
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Those in charge of the water sector in the wilaya of El Tarf were also asked to draw up a regional programme to eliminate water leaks and combat illegal tapping on the distribution networks.
As well as improving access to drinking water, the new facility will improve sanitation in Asfour, limiting the spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid fever and polio.
Inès Magoum