Around 25 water tanks found their way to a desolate area in the Northern Sahara. They were purchased for the irrigation of date palms for a government subsidized project for small farmers. In the early 1970s, an enormous underground aquifer was discovered in this part of Tunisia. In the years that followed, several oases were created to develop agriculture in this area. A strip of 2,500 hectares of crops including (date) palms was created along the border with Algeria.
The crops and thousands of palm trees are irrigated using a sophisticated system fed by the central water storage. Previously the water was pumped up directly from the well, but this brings along lot of debris in the water. The new irrigation system is connected to the water tanks, enabling the farmers to leave the water in the tank for a while. This offers the advantage that they can filter the water and bring it up to quality.
Relatively low tanks were chosen; 10,97 x 1,52 meter. Provided that there is no shortage of space, low tanks with a wide diameter are often preferred. The installation of low tanks is simple and more attractive in cost terms.
