Danish Ambassador to Bangladesh Christian Brix Moller has reiterated Danish support for addressing the need for clean water for the increasing population in Dhaka.

“We reaffirm our commitment to the government of Bangladesh in Saidabad Water Treatment Plant Project, Phase III,” said Ambassador Moller when he met with interim government adviser AF Hassan Ariff.

Once completed and in operation, the Phase III of the treatment plant will serve an additional 3 million city dwellers with treated and clean surface water instead of ground water.

This initiative addressed the needs of communities in Bangladesh and also strengthens the partnership between the two countries, said the Embassy on Tuesday.

Representatives from Local Government Division, Department of Public Health Engineering and Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Dhaka WASA) were also present during the meeting.

Denmark has been a long standing and trusted partner of Dhaka WASA and continues to expand its partnership.

Through a series of Saidabad Water Treatment Plant projects under Dhaka WASA, Denmark is supporting strategies for shifting from ground water usage to surface water sources, and is financing the design and construction of the treatment plant in its third phase.

This will lead to additional capacity of the plant to treat 450,000 cubic meter water per day. In addition, the sludge treatment plant will be designed to serve the full capacity of the entire plant.

The financing amount from Denmark is up to USD 300 million including a grant of USD 92 million, making it the largest water infrastructure financing project globally for the Danida Sustainable Infrastructure Finance in Copenhagen.