Syrians get some water relief

SALAMIEH, Syria, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The United Nations, Denmark and drought-stricken Syria collaborated to refurbish a water treatment facility with a reverse osmosis unit.

Syria, Turkey and Iraq share the 300,000-square-mile watershed of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Turkey, however, controls the majority of the flow from both, leaving downstream Damascus struggling to use its available resources effectively.

Syria is engaged with Lebanon and Jordan to develop river resources from waterways that cross mutual boundaries.

Years of drought, meanwhile, have left much of the Syrian landscape barren.

Syrians in the central province of Hama had relied on local wells for water, though contaminants rendered that resource unsafe for consumption.

In response, the Syrian government with funding from UNICEF, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Embassy of Denmark refurbished al-Qantara Hydrostation with a reverse osmosis unit.

UNICEF estimates that roughly 120,000 residents will receive clean drinking water from the refurbished plant.