Man Made River needs 36 inch control valves

Metso Automation has received a Eur2.7 million order for large control valves for the Libyan Great Man Made River project, which will transfer water via a large underground pipeline from huge aquifers

Metso Automation has received a Eur2.7 million order to supply control valves for the Great Man Made River (GMMR) project, a gigantic fresh water project in Libya whose goal is to transfer water through an underground pipeline network from huge aquifers in the deserts of southern Libya to the cities of the country.

The water will also be used to enhance domestic agriculture.

GMMR is said to be the second largest ongoing water project in the world, and is carried out by the Great Man-Made River Authority and funded by the Libyan Government.

Metso Automation's total delivery for the phase III of the GMMR project comprises eight 36-inch control valves.

From these, five Q-ball valves will be delivered for Al Gardabiya pumping station and three Q-ball valves for the Assdada pumping station.

The deliveries are scheduled for January 2005.

Project phase III will improve a water supply to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Tobruk and Gadames.

Huge water resources were found from underground basins in early 1950s concurrently with oil prospecting in the area.

The Kufra basin, lying in the south east, near the Egyptian border, covers an area of 350,000 sq km, forming an aquifer layer over 2000 metres deep, with an estimated capacity of 20,000 cubic km in the Libyan sector.

The 600-metre-deep aquifer in the Sirt basin is estimated to hold over 10,000 cubic km of water, while the 450,000 sq km Murzuk basin, south of Jabal Fezzan, is estimated to hold 4800k cubic metres.

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