Risk of cholera multiplied by sewage collapse in Baghdad

At a press conference on February 3, US Brigadier General Jeffrey Dorko and Tahseen Sheikhly, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, described a public health catastrophe-in-waiting. Dorko reported that one of the three main sewage treatment plants servicing Baghdad had been “damaged over time” and “is just totally out of commission”. The waste pumped to the plant “does go untreated”, he said.

Two other treatment plants are functioning, but not at full capacity due to a range of maintenance problems. Across the city, blockages and damage to sewerage pipes means that raw effluent continues to flow into the streets. One major sewerage trunk pipeline through the city’s south is so blocked that a “sewage lake” has formed due to the mass of waste leaking out.

Sheikhly told journalists: “If you look at Baghdad through Google Earth, you can see that there is a black spot in southern Baghdad due to the accumulation of the sewage there.”