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Eden In Iraq: The Wastewater Garden Project
Ecological and Cultural Restoration in the Mesopotamian Marshes

An initiative of artist Meridel Rubenstein, environmental engineers Dr. Mark Nelson and Dr. Davide Tocchetto and Jassim al-Asadi of Nature Iraq Organization.
Picture
Eden In Iraq is a humanitarian water remediation project, expressed through environmental art and wastewater garden design, which will provide urgently-needed health and clean water for southern Iraqis, their children, and future generations.
The marshes in southern Iraq, formed by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, are thought to be a possible site of the historic Garden of Eden.

Where a symbiotic, sustainable relationship once existed in the marshes balanced perfectly by healthy reeds, water buffalo trade, and rice and date cultivation, the system is now unstable. Waste has been piling up and the Euphrates River has become seriously polluted, putting the Marshlands and the Marsh Arab community at peril.
There is currently no sewage treatment in the Marsh Arab towns and cities--at most, sewage is pumped into a collection site and discharged without treatment into a river or marsh. This is causing odor and damage to the long-term ecology of the marshes and the health of the community.

The constructed wetland treatment will start with 7,000 square meters of reeds, which grow 1.8 meters tall. This first reed bed will immediately diminish the odor from the sewage. The wastewater will then go into the second phase of the garden: the “subsurface flow wetland.” Here, organic material of the sewage will be transformed by bacteria into mineral substances, cleaning the wastewater and simultaneously creating a beautiful and culturally significant garden by providing nutrients for plants and fruit trees, and honoring the rich Mesopotamian Marsh culture through design elements.
 
Please find additional information about the project at
http://www.meridelrubenstein.com/eden-in-iraq/

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  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Staff Highlights
    • Contact
    • Support us >
      • Volunteer
      • Membership
      • Donate
      • Career
  • What We Do
    • Current Projects >
      • Safeguarding the Persian Leopard Through the Establishment of Protected Area in Qara Dagh
      • Persian Leopard Conservation >
        • Conservation and Monitoring
        • Advocacy And Stakeholder Engagement
        • Education And Public Awareness
      • Preservation and the Digital Documentation of the Traditional Handcrafts >
        • Photo Gallery
        • Videos
      • Waterkeeper Law and Advocacy Program >
        • Project Photos
        • Project Videos
        • Waterkeepers Iraq >
          • Photos
        • List of Activities
      • Wastewater Garden Project
    • Past Projects >
      • Key Biodiversity Areas >
        • Gallery
      • New Eden Project
      • Adobe House >
        • Photos
      • Compressed Soil Brick Construction >
        • Photos
      • Darwin Project in-Situ >
        • Land Management
        • Education/Outreach
        • Online Course
        • Surveys and Fieldwork
        • Birds of Peramagroon
        • Photos
      • Marshlands Empowerment >
        • Photos
      • Sociable Lapwing Project >
        • Photos
      • The National Atlas of Marshes and Wetlands of Iraq
      • Green Festivals >
        • Photos
      • Biodiversity Conservation >
        • Wildlife Camera Trap Images
        • Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP)
      • Water Resources >
        • Mesopotamian Outreach Project >
          • The Tigris River Flotilla
          • Photos
      • Sustainable Development >
        • Eco-Camp
        • Photos
      • Capacity Building
      • Exhibitions >
        • Paris
        • UK
        • Al-Hella, Iraq
        • Basra, Iraq >
          • Basrah, 13-15 July 2008
          • Basra, 1 Jan 2009
        • Erbil, Iraq
        • Thi-Qar, Iraq
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos ( Page 1 )
    • Videos ( Page 2 )
    • News Room
    • Literature
  • Language
    • Arabic عربي
    • Kurdish كوردی