Maintenance at Disi project set to finish Thursday — Water Ministry

AMMAN — Maintenance work on the Disi Water Conveyance Project is ongoing, Water Ministry Spokesperson Omar Salameh said on Tuesday.

Ministry cadres are working round-the-clock to complete the maintenance, which is expected to be finished by Thursday morning, Salameh told The Jordan Times, adding that pumping was discontinued due to recurrent violations on the pipeline. 

The project pumps 15 million cubic metres of water to several governorates, including to the capital Amman, Salameh said, noting that if the 320-kilometre pipeline is not maintained regularly, it risks severe damage.

Water conditions have improved and have not regressed, despite the challenges the Kingdom has faced in the past few years, the spokesperson said.

"Water resources in the Kingdom are scarce and the ministry seeks to establish strategic projects to secure citizens' needs in the future," Salameh said, adding: "Rainfall does not directly affect the condition of drinking water, but rather the limited water sources like Yarmouk River, Al Wihdeh dam and other underground wells."

As a result, the ministry has begun to utilise and process water from dams, succeeding in providing various areas with water through the Kufranjah and Mujib dams, he said. 

In Amman alone, there are 1.5 million water subscribers, but water is not being cut off for all of them, Salameh said. 

He also noted that when the Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921, per capita was more than 1,500 cubic metres, but at present has regressed to less than a 100 cubic metres annually. 

The regression has caused the water deficit to reach 500 million cubic metres, which is why the turn system is applied, Salameh said, noting that Jordan needs 1.4 billion cubic metres of water annually, but only 900 million is available, reiterating the need for strategic projects that ensure enough water is provided.