Water Supply from Turkey to Cyprus Island with Suspended Marine Pipeline

Abstract

More than 90% of the water requirement for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC/KKTC) was being supplied from groundwater resources, while the rest was being provided from surface waters and seawater until the 1990s. Due to excessive water abstractions above their natural feeding levels, most of the aquifers had salinization as a result of sea water interference with electrical conductivity (EC) value exceeding 7000 mmho/cm. In order to provide a permanent and long-term solution to the water problem in TRNC, a sea-crossing suspended water transmission pipeline (TRNC Water Supply) project has been developed for sustainable water transfer from Turkey to the Cyprus Island. While the initial feasibility and conceptual design studies have been prepared for State Hydraulic Works (DSI) in 1998-1999, the implementation projects and tender documents have been completed in 2006-2009, and the construction of the suspended marine pipeline has started in 2011 as commissioned by DSI. The engineering supervision and consultancy services of the project have been provided by a team from Istanbul Technical University (ITU). The project, which has been fully completed in October 2015 had a total cost of 1.6 x 109 TL (600 x 106 $), including expropriation costs. The unit cost of the water with flowrate 75 x 106 m3/year is calculated to be 0.6 $/m3 (n=15 x 50 years, i=0.08), and the investment is expected to be repaid in 5.3 years. In this article, design details of the suspended marine pipeline and its critical components of this unique project are presented.