ITOCHU, Çalık Enerji to build first sewer system in Erbil, Iraq
(UI) — ITOCHU Corp. has signed a contract to construct a large-scale sewerage treatment facility in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. The project marks the first modern wastewater treatment infrastructure for the city of approximately 2 million residents.
The construction agreement was finalized on Aug. 28, 2025, between ITOCHU and the General Directorate of Water and Sewerage (GDWS), which operates under the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism. The Japanese company will partner with Turkish firm Çalık Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. to deliver the project.
The initiative aims to improve water quality and sanitation across Erbil by preventing untreated wastewater from seeping into groundwater and nearby rivers. Once complete, the facility will treat 52,500 cubic meters of wastewater per day, initially serving roughly 135,000 people. Long-term plans call for expanding regional capacity to 840,000 cubic meters daily by 2038.
Financing comes from a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan valued at 34.4 billion yen ($228 million USD), agreed to by Japan and Iraq in 2015. Construction is expected to finish by 2028.
“The facility will prevent drinking water being contaminated by the underground infiltration of human waste and the deterioration of the quality of the water in public rivers due to sewer water flowing into the rivers, and it will also contribute to the improvement of the sanitary environment and the securing and effective use of water resources in the area,” ITOCHU said in a statement.
The project supports ITOCHU’s environmental business strategy, which includes water and waste management projects across the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Serbia, and Saudi Arabia, as well as desalination initiatives in Australia and Oman.
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