Official attributes water supply disruptions to abrupt power cuts

AMMAN – Sudden power outages in the past few weeks have caused disruption to the water distribution programme all over the Kingdom, Secretary General of Ministry of Water, Ali Subuh said in a statement on Tuesday.

Subuh said that 124 disruptions were registered after 53 main water sources stopped pumping for over 271 hours during the period between March 1 and May 17.

In a separate statement, Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abul Saud said that the demand for water has reached new levels with the increase in temperatures, noting that the unified complaints centre records more than 10,000 calls.

Abul Saud said that efforts have been intensified to deal with the citizens’ notes and complaints through the operation and maintenance directorates, and control centres, noting that cadres will work round-the-clock during Eid Al Fitr as well.

The minister urged citizens to contact the main control room at 117116 to report any notes at any time. He also called on the public not to call the number except in cases of emergency.

Explaining the disruptions, Subuh said that any power outage, even for a moment, leads to pumping suspension from the water source for several hours until the matter is resolved.

He said that the sudden outages stopped 0.5 million cubic metres (mcm) of people’s water share from reaching them on time, which sparked errors in the water pumping schedule around the Kingdom, according to the statement.

In the March to mid-May period, Irbid saw 30 disruptions for 74 hours, affecting 101,000cm; Disi wells/Aqaba saw 10 disruptions for 31 hours, impacting around 67,000cm; Mafraq saw 12 disruptions for 27 hours, impacting around 49,230cm; and Balqa witnessed 11 disruptions that impacted around 147,000cm, the statement said.

Zarqa and Ruseifa recorded 28 disruptions that lasted for 40 hours, affecting around 60,156cm; in Karak there were 16 disruptions for 48 hours that affected around 48,014cm; and in Jerash there were six disruptions that lasted 16 hours and affected around 3,650cm.

Disruptions were also reported in Ajloun, the main Azraq station, Madaba, Amman/Wadi Seer and Maeen.

“Power outages are one of the big challenges that facing water pumping, especially during peak hours, increasing demand,” Subuh said, noting that sometimes it takes 24 hours to restore operations after a momentary power outage.