'Water supply expected to return to normal by Thursday'

AMMAN — The water distribution programme in Amman and Zarqa will return to normal later this week, when maintenance work on main carriers is scheduled to end, the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna) said on Tuesday.

The weekly water distribution programme was disrupted as of Sunday, when maintenance work started on the Disi Water Conveyance Project, a Miyahuna official said.

"The maintenance work on the Disi project is still under way, but scheduled to end on Thursday. Pumping water under the water distribution programme is expected to return to normal once it ends," the Miyahuna official told The Jordan Times over the phone.

Last week, the company called on its subscribers in the Amman and Zarqa governorates to reduce water consumption during the five-day period to cope with the stoppage of pumping.

Under the water distribution programme, households receive water once during a certain period, usually a week, on a rotating basis. Scarce water resources compelled the Kingdom to initiate the programme in the early 1980s to conserve limited resources whilst ensuring a sustainable supply of water.

In a recent statement, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said all of its water resources will be pumping at full capacity during the maintenance of the Disi project in order to minimise the impact on water supplied to subscribers.

The ministry said the maintenance is necessary to secure water needs during the summer.

The Disi project conveys 100 million cubic metres annually from the ancient Disi aquifer in southern Jordan to the capital via a 325-kilometre pipeline. The project started pumping water to Amman in 2013 via the pipeline that passes through several water stations in Maan, Tafileh, Karak and Madaba.