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The first specific project in Iraq// A reading of the water harvesting project in the buildings of the University of Anbar
2023-01-03
During 2023, the University of Anbar witnessed a qualitative leap in the field of green sustainable environment according to a plan documented within the university's strategic plan based on a clear vision adopted by the university presidency, which is the vision of (University of Anbar towards sustainable development 2030), one of the most prominent tools of which was the university's research centres. The university launched the University of Anbar project as a green oasis, whose fruits began to ripen and become clear quickly by increasing green areas compared to previous years, and in parallel, work was to spread the culture of using renewable and clean energies and work to make laboratories and a number of university formations based on these energies. Then the most important step and we can describe the University of Anbar as a pioneer in this field is the water harvesting project in the university buildings to be the first official body in Iraq to adopt this project by obliging the Department of Construction and Projects that there must be a system for water harvesting in the university buildings to collect rainfall fall water and benefit from it in irrigating gardens and green spaces to achieve sustainability and rationalize water consumption. The Department of Construction and Projects began to implement these systems in a number of faculties and formations of the university. In the interest of the Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Centre to evaluate this experience and provide a database through which the evaluation process can be conducted and then analyze this data to develop these systems and increase their efficiency for the purpose of achieving the desired goals, a team from the center conducted a survey of the quantities of rainfall fall harvested through the water harvesting system for the building of the Deanship of the College of Literature at the university. The amount of rainfall was measured at the centre's station inside the campus of the University of Anbar, where it reached over two days (81.8 mm) and the surface area of the Deanship of the College of Literature building was (600 square meters) and the coefficient of surface flow for urban areas is estimated (can be estimated at 0.8) so the volume of water available for harvesting can be estimated at (39 cubic meters) The amounts of rainfall fall collected in the tanks of the water harvesting system were calculated, as it amounted to (30 cubic meters) This difference is the result of some leakage, as the system is still in the stages of completion of the connection and construction of the station, which means very encouraging results for the completion of this pioneering and important project and work to spread this culture in society, which can contribute a lot to achieving the goals of sustainable development by providing water and increasing green space to reduce the impact of emissions and global warming, in addition to the possibility of using tank ceilings in these systems to install solar cells that can contribute to supplying irrigation systems with electrical energy.
Figure (1) Water Harvesting Tanks in the Deanship of the College of Literature
Figure (2) Measuring the water level in the tank
The importance of the project lies in that it sheds light on one of the most important water resources in light of talking about water scarcity and the decrease in water incomes coming to Iraq as a result of the construction of dams in neighboring countries and the impact of climate change, which Iraq is one of the most affected countries, in addition to what it witnessed last year from the recurrence of dust storms and the need to establish green belts that need water sources to sustain and irrigate them. Therefore, it is to the credit of the University of Anbar and its research centers, including the Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Centre, to focus on the issue of water harvesting at the level of buildings and urban areas in cities to develop the water resources management system and sustainability. A number of researchers of the centre estimate that for an annual rainfall rate of (115 mm) over the total area of the Iraqi Western Desert, the volume of water available (i.e. possible) from these rains is about (28) billion cubic meters, yes (28) billion cubic meters, and although part of it goes as evaporation losses and part of it leaches into the soil, but a large part of it can be harvested by harvesting water for surface water (floods) or collecting it through rainwater stream systems and returning it. to the river or to lake reservoirs or at the level of buildings and houses in situ reservoirs for each building or house. Even those that leak through the soil go a large part of it to recharge groundwater and the possibility of using it later, in other words, to follow and try to invest every drop of water that can come to the region. The volume of water available from rainfall greatly encourages research and studies and the provision of continuous and accurate databases that contribute to the development of water resources management systems and increase their efficiency, and the university and its research centres have the most prominent role in this matter.
From here, it was not a coincidence that the University of Anbar won the first place in Iraq and 146th globally in the Green Matrix classification, which depends largely on green environmental management, which was for research centers at the university and the support of the university presidency for it, as well as the adoption of the university presidency for Vision 2030 clear fingerprints in reaching this result.
Figure (3) Measuring the water level in the tank
