Septic tankers seized before unloading in Zarqa neighbourhoods

AMMAN — Authorities on Tuesday stopped five septic tankers from emptying the wastewater they were carrying among residential areas in Zarqa Governorate, a government official said.

The alleged attempt of five septic tankers to unload the sewage in areas undesignated for dumping wastewater was discovered after the Ministry of Environment activated an electronic tracking system on septic tankers late last month, according to ministry’s spokesperson Isa Shboul.

“The new system allowed us to monitor and track the movement of septic tankers across the board. It helps us ensure that septic tankers abide by the regulations and discharge of their load in areas designated for that purpose in a safe and environment-friendly manner,” Shboul noted.

The septic tankers were seized in Duleil District, located 18 kilometres away from Zarqa city centre.

“Drivers of the septic tankers have all been referred to the district governor for legal action after they tried to empty sewage amongst residential areas in Duleil,” Shboul noted.

A total of 700 septic tankers were equipped with tracking devices to monitor the location of vehicles’ discharge of municipal wastewater.

The new measure seeks to put an end to the prevailing randomness in unloading municipal wastewater, according to ministry’s previous statetemt, which indicated that the process is now regulated and monitored.

A database of owners of septic tankers, their locations and routes has been created, according to the ministry, which said that the step seeks to protect the environment from pollution, particularly underground water.

An operations centre at the Environment Ministry was set up to monitor the electronic tracking system, which features the authorised locations for the discharge of municipal wastewater and follows the movement of each septic tanker across the country.

The system sends notifications when a septic tanker’s valve has been opened for the disposal of wastewater if it is at an undesignated site, according to the ministry, which has reported a growing number of violations involving random disposal of municipal wastewater in different parts of the country, particularly in light of the increasing population.

The electronic tracking of wastewater tankers is the project’s first phase, according to the ministry, which said that later phases will include the tracking of waste oil and hazardous waste trucks.