Infrastructure Models for Ecological Wastewater Management - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 410

be aware of the increased complexity involved in managing systems that include
mechanical components if these technologies are going to be effectively employed.
MOVING FORWARD IN IRAQ
This chapter has discussed ecological wastewater management and the infrastruc-
ture models that determine the range of technology choices available to communi-
ties. As Iraq transitions from a water-rich to a water-poor country, increasing priority
will have to be given to recovery and reuse of treated effluents.
The Mesopotamian marshes are a unique landscape. The infrastructure that will
be developed to serve the communities in and around the marshes will be similarly
unique and will depend heavily on the creativity and resourcefulness of Iraqi plan-
ners and engineers, and most of all on the marsh Arabs themselves.
While the template for infrastructure development has yet to be created for the
communities that depend on the Mesopotamian marshes, much can be learned from
analogous ecological technologies employed in other parts of the world, including
ponds, surface-flow constructed wetlands, and subsurface-flow constructed wet-
lands. All of these are mechanically simple, biologically complex technologies that
are capable of producing effluents that meet WHO guidelines for reuse. Technology
selection is likely to be the easiest component of infrastructure development in Iraq.
However, no technology transfer will be successful unless there is the institutional
capacity to support the selected scale of infrastructure. This chapter has explored
the single-home and village-scale (cluster) infrastructure models in detail, based on
the assessment that these are the infrastructure models most likely to be successful
in the Mesopotamian marsh region. In the absence of clearly defined and effective
management entities, the default level of management is at the single-home level. As
a result, planners and engineers should base their technology choices accordingly.
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