[Washington, DC] -- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is donating 10 water purification plants to Iraq. Each station will have the capacity to purify 520,000 gallons of water a day. The relief project, once up and running, will supply the Iraqi people with over five million gallons of uncontaminated water each day.

According to Ambassador to the United States Prince Bandar bin Sultan: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to respond to the needs of the Iraqi people. We have set up a comprehensive aid package. We have provided a field hospital along with ambulances, doctors, medical supplies and foodstuffs. The purification facilities are absolutely necessary due to growing concerns about the lack of potable water in Iraq.”

The existing clean water resources have been destroyed or contaminated in most Iraqi cities and villages.  Waterborne illnesses such as cholera, dysentery and diarrhea have proliferated especially among children since the disruption of clean water supplies. According to the World Health Organization, diarrheal disease has been one of the three main killers of children in Iraq in recent years.

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