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On the 16^th of November 2019, the UNESCO Khartoum Office, in partnership with the Water Research Center (WRC) at the University of Khartoum, Khartoum State’s Water Co-operation, Khartoum State’s Sanitary Co-operation, Khartoum state’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation, ZOA NGO, Sudan University for Science and Technology, and UNESCO Water Network in Sudan, organized an expert meeting on Urban Water Treatment for the Khartoum state, at the premises of Water Research Center at the University of Khartoum. 17 water professionals attended the meeting. The meeting was honoured by Prof. Gamal Murtada, the WRC; Dr. Malik Omer, the Director of the Khartoum State’s Water Co-operation; Dr. Ahmed Mohammed, the Khartoum State’s Sanitary Co-operation; Dr. Omer Ahmed, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation of the Khartoum State; Mohammed Saeed, ZOA NGO; Dr. Muna Musnad, the UNESCO Chair of Water; and Abdelgadir Salih, the UNESCO Khartoum Office.

The meeting embodied four agendas: drinking water supply, sanitation, urban drainage and environmental impact of urbanization (floods, rising water table and pollution). The meeting handled the historical development, current situation, existing solutions, and future projects for the urban water network that is situated in Khartoum. The attendees presented statistical quantification of current urban water network, stating that Khartoum has 12 water production stations, over 2000 water wells and 20,000 km of fresh water network, 15,000 km of it is relatively new and 500 km is quite old and contains hazardous materials asbestos. The production of fresh water is around 1,300,000 m³ annually from underground water and 55,000 m³ from surface water. As for the sewage system, it only covers around 8% of Khartoum state (400 km) with 20 connecting stations and 4 treatment stations. 80% of the network is old being in a bad condition.

© UNESCO: Urban Water Management Meeting. Participants. Khartoum, Sudan. 16/11/2019

After addressing the current urban water network efficiency, the attendees focused on the pressing issue for each of the water utility bodies. The representatives of the Khartoum State’s Water Co-operation stated that 40% of the produced fresh water does not reach consumers due to old and/or fractured pipes in the water distribution networks. Furthermore, some segments of the network contain asbestos pipes and other hazardous materials, water pumps are consistently malfunctioning because of a considerable cost of reparation and lack of maintenance funding. The representative of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation stated, that the sewage system is situated on small plots of land that affects the efficiency of the plant, also the high cost of constructing new facilities is hindering the growth of the network.

Another pressing issue, discussed in the meeting, is the rising water table that affects most of Omdurman and Khartoum cities. Towards to the end of the meeting, the participants started to discuss the laws, regulations and initiatives that might excel or assist to enhance the urban water management system. They also discussed the need in a centralized data center to enhance further studies and researches.

The meeting concluded with 7 following outputs:

• Dr. Malik Omer Elobied will lead group of water experts from Khartoum State Water Company focusing on data gathering and collecting reports on fresh water network and facilities in the Khartoum state.
• Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Taher will provide detailed report regarding the sewage system in the Khartoum state using the Khartoum State’s Sanitary Co-operation’s resources.
• Dr. Muna Musnad will share the reports regarding the rising water table in Omdourman.
• Need in domesticating the production of chlorine and other chemicals, which are used regularly in the water plants.
• Need in a centralized data center.
• Need in reviewing laws, regulations and initiatives – classifying them as being pro or contra the quality of urban water management.