Erbil Water Director: Rapid Water Project Marks a Major Turning Point for the Capital

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Director of Erbil Water announced that the “Erbil Rapid Water Emergency Project” represents a major qualitative leap in improving water quality and enhancing the daily life of residents in the Kurdistan Region’s capital, describing it as a strategic solution to protect groundwater resources from depletion.

In an interview with Kurdistan24, Rabar Hussein, Director of Erbil Water, confirmed that the project currently provides the city with around 7,500 cubic meters of potable water, significantly improving Erbil’s water situation.

He emphasized that one of the project’s most important achievements is preserving the region’s water wealth. Hussein explained that industrial facilities, which previously relied on drilling wells and extracting groundwater, have now been connected entirely—at a full 100% rate—to the rapid water project and receive clean treated water directly. He said this shift marks an environmental and strategic milestone in preventing groundwater exhaustion.

Hussein added that technical teams are intensifying efforts to expand service coverage, noting that work continues at a fast pace to integrate internal water networks across Erbil. So far, approximately 330 kilometers of new water pipelines have been installed, strengthening and enhancing the distribution network within residential areas.

The background to the project highlights extensive work carried out in two phases. The first part of the Erbil Rapid Water Emergency Project is now fully operational, while the second part is approaching final completion.

At a press conference earlier on Thursday, Khalid Khoshnaw, owner of Hemn Group—the company implementing the project—said the initiative was undertaken out of deep commitment to Erbil and in direct response to a request from Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. He said Prime Minister Barzani personally asked him to intervene to help solve the city’s urgent water challenges.

“Once Prime Minister Masrour Barzani invited me and emphasized that our city is facing a water crisis that needs urgent resolution, I was eager to express my readiness to implement any project that would address this issue,” Khoshnaw stated.

He highlighted the exceptional standards applied throughout construction, noting that the project’s water turbidity level is below 1%, compared to the global average of 5%. “No other project in the region has been built with this level of quality. We have dedicated all our company’s resources to solving the water problem,” he said.

The project is one of the flagship strategic initiatives announced by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s ninth cabinet. Hemn Group executed both phases under direct directives from Prime Minister Barzani.