Everyone knows that all living things need water to survive and during the upcoming summer months in Iraq, the demand for clean drinking water will drastically rise.

The near-term completion of a project in the Al-Rasheed district will fulfill this need and provide more than 100,000 villagers fresh water.

The $500,000 project began six months ago and employed 36 people, of which 30 were from the local area.

In the 2nd Kurtan village, which has roughly 5,000 residents, there hasn't been a source for purified water since it was formed, according to CPT Christian Neels, the civil-military operations officer for 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment.

Sheik Alwan Kartan, a local tribal leader who has participated in the project since the beginning, said that the villagers who had cars could go to the adjacent areas to get water. Others who didn't have vehicles had to get their water from the canal that connects to the river, putting them at risk for disease.