This interview runs in its complete form as an excerpt from the article “Oasis or Conflit Zone?” which can be viewed here.
Since March 2012, Dr Mark McHutchon, senior mechanical engineer at Pell Frischmann, has been visiting Iraq, helping to upgrade a substantial part of the country’s water treatment infrastructure. He has led the mechanical and electrical parts of the design for three water treatment plants and several pumping stations in the Haditha, Beji and Salamiya regions of Iraq. McHutchon’s work has involved visiting existing plants and attending meetings in Baghdad.
The people he has met day-to-day in Iraq, such as the plant operators, have been friendly and keen to help, he says. The salaries Iraqi engineers earn are comparable to British engineers, he adds, and the cost of food and household items is similar to in the UK, but people pay less tax and less for fuel. Imported western stuff is expensive but available. Generally, the standard of knowledge of Iraqi engineers was good, with some “very sharp” engineers. However, when understanding broke down during conversations it was sometimes not clear whether this was because of a lack of technical knowledge or a communication barrier, he adds.
The upgrade to the water treatment plants would improve the quality of life for millions of people
The $500 million water upgrade project is funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project, which employed about 120 engineers at its peak, will improve the infrastructure so millions of people can drink the water instead of just using it for irrigation. The scheme will also double capacity in the region to around 500 megalitres per day. For comparison, that is enough water to supply all of Devon and Cornwall every day. “The project will make a significant difference to people’s lives,” says McHutchon.
His longest Iraq trip so far has been an initial five-week visit at the beginning of the project to catalogue the state of the existing plants and pumping stations, which he describes as “pretty bad”. Apparently little to no maintenance had been performed in the last 20 years, although it would have been unlikely that spare parts would have been available under Saddam Hussein’s regime. “There’s no earthing on any of the electrics, and we saw bullet holes on some bits and pieces. They hadn’t been doing chemical dosing for a long time. In one particular area the quality was shocking.
Key infrastructure was often running in a dilipidated state
“The roads are decent and there is fuel in most places. But power is a real challenge. Everywhere we went, there were chronic power outages every day.”
Some improvements had been made by the International Committee of the Red Cross, mostly new pumps, and others by the US in 2007 and 2008, after the war. But most of the plants and pumping stations are degraded to such an extent that almost everything needs replacing. A key decision for the team then was which standard of technology to install – the most modern plant and equipment possible, or relay architecture, as was the standard 30 years ago in the UK.
“They want it like we have it in the UK now. But the power network isn’t great, and supply of spare parts could be difficult in the future. So there has to be the ability to turn the automation off and do things manually,” says McHutchon.
A further consideration is that the contractor needs to be able to build the plants, run them for a year, train operators and be responsible for the second year of operation. So the team decided to go for the middle ground. The design therefore includes multiple programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to control the different areas, a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to tie everything together, and proper process controls for chemical dosing.
Other factors that complicate the design process include a proliferation of illegal connections, poor information about the piping infrastructure, and exceptionally dry heat. Getting approval for the project has also proved tough. The team works in the Iraqi government’s ministry of municipalities and public works department. However, one legacy of Saddam is that some aspects of government can be highly bureaucratic. “Local engineers have to sign off for works in their neighbourhood, which often involves actual rubber stamping of hundreds of drawings by several individuals,” says McHutchon.
Many plants suffered from illegal connections and a lack of detailed information about piping infrastructure
Most suppliers, such as Siemens, Schneider Electric and KSV, are not put off by the Iraq aspect of the project, he says. Indeed, over the past few years the country has felt ‘open for business’ whenever he has visited. Baghdad is full of people “getting on with life”, he says.
“Everywhere you look, you see T-walls – the big bits of reinforced concrete – and the wire-mesh-and-sack Hesco walls, which people have ripped apart and used to patch up roofing and fences. There are American Humvees everywhere – a lot are static because they haven’t been maintained.”
Body armour and planning reduce risk while on the move in Iraq
Unsurprisingly, a visitor to Iraq can also expect to see a lot of guns. “There are checkpoints everywhere, with guards wearing camouflage and carrying AK47s and grenades. But all they seem to do is slow the traffic down. Sometimes you feel as if you are in a news report or a film.”
However, the insurgency “felt like an irritation, not a hindrance to getting things done”, he says. “You’re a bit more on edge than at home. You don’t linger in the lobby, you want to take the third or fourth floor of hotels. Too low, you are at risk of a bombing; too high, and the ladders don’t reach. Our guy out there talks about making coffee and checking emails on Monday morning while hearing bombs going off.”
While in Baghdad they were being shepherded from one area to the next and there was no hassle when they worked down the street. This was not the case in other regions. “Kurdistan was a different experience. They look after themselves really well, it felt very secure with a high quality of life. We visited restaurants with no bother. Most cuisine involves roast chicken and rice and pickled vegetables.”
McHutchon’s last visit to Baghdad was in April this year, when things had relaxed to the point where visiting engineers no longer had to constantly be escorted by security. However, since the fall of Mosul in June, all travel to Iraq has been postponed. Judgements on the security of trips are made on briefings from security firms alongside Foreign Office updates. “The security ts analysed beforehand and the way it is looked at is that the only way we can get caught in something nasty is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And we won’t be, because we just go to the airport, the office and the hotel.”
Daily life in Iraq goes on as it rebuilds with available materials
All the designs for the treatment plants and pumping stations are complete, and the company is waiting for government approvals and payment. The tendering to supply and build the plants was supposed to start this autumn, but is now delayed because of the instability. Once construction does start, Pell Frischmann will supervise the sites, which could mean more time in Iraq for McHutchon.
Despite the edgy moments, bureaucracy and delays, he recommends the Iraq experience. “Aside from the situation right now, I would say: ‘don’t be too scared – go’. It has been a fascinating, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Engineers get to change the world, and this is real quality-of-life stuff. Of the engineers I’ve worked with in the Mosul area, three are Christians and two are trying to get out of the country. The country is losing expertise."