Lebanon: Long delayed waste-water treatment plant finally opened

A long-delayed waste-water recycling plant was inaugurated in Siniq in Sidon on the 25/10/2010. Officials expect the facility to mitigate disastrous environmental problems. The plan will collect sewage water from Sidon and purify it before it pours into the sea.

The construction of the plant finished in 2006 but its opening was repeatedly delayed due to technical problems. “I hope this will bring good news to Sidon locals and will be the start of eliminating the city’s environmental problems,” Saudi said during the inauguration ceremony. “We have been suffering from these problems for more than 40 years.”

Work on rerouting the canals started two months ago, and five pipe lines from the main network have so far been redirected. Saudi promised the remaining three plants would soon follow and hoped no more waste water would be dumped on the shores.

Electromechanical engineer Ashraf Adwi said that the purified water from the plant would be dumped in the sea, 2 kilometers from the beach.