Thousands of families left without clean water in Kirkuk

KIRKUK, Iraq — Water shortages are making life difficult for residents of Kirkuk. 

More than 2,000 families in the city's Kurdistan neighbourhood are among those affected. 

"The water comes only once every two days. This sometimes reduces to once every six to seven days. The water isn't clean, though. When we urgently need water, we buy water tanks, but the water is too salty to drink," local Kharman Mahmood told Rudaw. 

Water shortages are a problem across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, and have been exacerbated this year by drought. Kurdistan Region officials have warned that the region is experiencing a "water crisis", while a lack of water has wreaked havoc on farming in sourthern Iraq.

Authorities in Kirkuk said a lack of electricity is the problem.

"If there is sufficient electricity and the water resources provide us with water, we would have no problems," said Jihan Ibrahim, deputy director of Kirkuk's water directorate.

Kirkuk consumes more than 250,000 cubic meters of water every day, according to Ibrahim. 

Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed