The project was constructed in a region of northwest Turkey situated at the eastern end of the Sea of Marmara, 78 miles from Istanbul. Since the late 1970s, the Marmara coastline has developed into a major industrial centre with numerous power stations, cement works, oil refineries and paint works. To fulfil its true potential it needed to improve what was generally considered a poor water supply. Izmit's water supply in northern Turkey is the world's largest privately financed water supply project and the country's first water Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract. System serves a population, currently at 600,000, which is expected to increase to 1.6m by the year 2020. Comprising a dam, a 480 million litres per day water treatment plant, pumping stations and 150km of pipeline, the project took ten years to complete, costing £530 million. Bir has designed the pumping stations of the project.