Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg – Dêrik Partnership builds first solar-powered drinking water fountain
A few days ago, a solar fountain went into operation in Dêrik in northern and eastern Syria. The fountain in the Şehid Xebat district is a central component of the district’s water supply after the infrastructure in large parts of the region was destroyed by air strikes by the Turkish military. The project, funded by the Berlin State Agency for Development Cooperation (LEZ), was implemented by the Berlin twin town partnership Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg – Dêrik together with the city administration in Dêrik and the “Make Rojava Green Again” initiative.
The solar fountain consists of a water pump that is powered by electricity from 112 solar modules with a maximum output of 64.96 kW. During the day, the water is pumped into storage tanks on the roofs of the houses. Currently, over 1,000 households with around 5,000 people are safely supplied with water. It is expected that even more internally displaced people from the Turkish-occupied areas of northern Syria will settle there in the future.
Ecological reconstruction
The German side of the town twinning is keen to support the twin town of Dêrik in supplying the population with electricity and water. “Because this is an important contribution to improving the living conditions of the local people,” says Elke Dangeleit, who sits on the board of the town twinning association. The association wants to help the people of Dêrik with concrete projects to develop prospects of staying. This is the only way to prevent them from fleeing to Europe. “The fact that the well is powered by renewable energy is another plus point, because it shows that security of supply and the switch to renewable energies can go hand in hand.”
Ensuring security of supply
The director of the local water authority, Mustafa Ahmed, underlined the importance of the solar well: “This project will be of great benefit to the district as the solar well will secure the water supply. This will avoid problems such as power outages and the resulting water shortages.”
At the meeting of the grassroots district council in the last week of July, the relevance for the everyday lives of residents was emphasized, who now no longer have to travel to other parts of the city to do laundry or fill up canisters. In addition to the basic supply of water, the project also makes diesel generators superfluous, which has a positive effect on air quality and noise.
Stable cooperation
The German side of the town twinning protocol said: “We appreciate the good and growing cooperation with the Dêrik city administration. This is reflected, among other things, in the fact that only three months have passed between the funding decision and the project implementation. We thank the city administration and “Make Rojava Green Again” for the outstanding preparation and implementation. We would like to express our thanks to the Berlin State Agency for Development Cooperation for the funding.”
