'1,816 households in Irbid to be connected to sewage network'

AMMAN — A total of 1,816 households in Irbid's Beit Ras village and adjacent areas in the northern governorate's east will be connected to the sewage network under a project under way at a cost of 12 million euros, according to a government official.

The project, which will be implemented in two phases, is funded through a grant from the EU, Water Minister Hazem Nasser said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Saturday, noting that 1,269 household in Beit Ras, some 80km north of Amman, will be linked to the sewage network, while 45km of main and tertiary sewage pipelines will be extended at a cost of JD5.6 million to serve 9,500 people.

Another 547 households in adjacent areas will also be linked to the sewage network to serve 4,100 people, Nasser said, adding that 13km of main and tertiary sewage pipelines will be extended at a cost of JD1.2 million.

"The project seeks to introduce wastewater services at local communities hosting Syrian refugees to secure a healthy and safe environment, and also to cope with the increasing amounts of wastewater following the increase in the number of water users and discharged wastewater," Nasser said in the statement.

The minister highlighted that the collected wastewater will be treated and used for the irrigation of certain crops.

Omar Taani, a resident of Beit Ras, welcomed the plan to link his hometown to the sewage network, saying it will help improve the environment.

Taani said that the entire town dumps its wastewater in cesspits, which are actually ancient underground caves and holes.

"Nobody here in Beit Ras needs to empty their cesspits because they are underground caves and have never overflowed, we don’t have to worry about this. However, we are deeply concerned about the final destination of the wastewater and its impact in the long-run," Taani told The Jordan Times.

He expressed fears that the ground underneath Beit Ras would collapse one day due to the fact that thousands of people in the town dispose of their wastewater in a network of ancient holes.

Cesspits in the north of the Kingdom are the source of recurring pollution incidents, because some of them are not built according to standards, or their owners neglect having them emptied which causes them to overflow and reach part of the water network, according to water officials.

The ministry floated the project's tender last year. The Water Authority of Jordan awarded ILF Consulting Engineers the consultancy services contract for the wastewater networks in Irbid and Beit Ras. The services included design, tendering and construction supervision for a complete sewer network in Beit Ras and other areas of Irbid, where some 1.77 million people live, according to the 2015 population census.

The contract duration is 30 months.

Nasser said in previous statements to the press that water demand is increasing in the northern governorates and so is the production of wastewater that is exceeding the capacity of treatment plants.