Ministry launches $50m project to cut water waste

AMMAN — Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abul Saud on Saturday said that the Ministry of Water and Irrigation has begun implementing the first government-proposed effort to minimise water waste via the non-revenue water (NRW) project.

The project, first proposed during the London initiative, will cost $50 million, Abul Saud said.

He added that the government has begun floating tenders for the first phase of implementation, through the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Abul Saud pointed out that the ministry has prepared the necessary paperwork and procedures to present the second project proposed during the London conference, the third stage of the second expansion to the Khirbet Al Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Preparations are also underway for the third London initiative project seeking to desalinate the waters of the Hasban wells, the minister said.

Abul Saud assured that the Kingdom’s water sector is making great strides towards facing the challenges of implementing water and sanitation projects, searching for water sources to compensate for NRW and upgrading water networks.

He stated that the Khirbet Al Samra expansion project seeks to increase the plant’s capacity from 100,000 cubic metres per day to 500,000 cubic metres per day, in addition to building a solar power system with a 10 megawatt (MW) capacity to power the plant and take advantage of the gas produced by the energy generation process, Petra reported.

The expansion project will allow the plant to depend solely on renewable, unconventional sources of energy, Saud pointed.

As for the third project, the desalination of the wells in the Hasban region aims at providing 10 to 15 million cubic metres of water annually. This will be done by digging 10 wells during the first phase of execution, followed by the construction of solar power system to mitigate the costs of electricity, Petra reported.