Authorities uncover suspected water theft in south Amman

AMMAN — Authorities on Tuesday uncovered a suspected major water violation which diverted around 1,000 cubic metres of water daily from a main carrier to private farms and a villa in south Amman.

A team from the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna), the Royal Badia Forces and the Gendarmerie raided the location after verifying a claim of a water violation in Um Al Rummaneh area, south of the capital, an official at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said on Tuesday.

“The team discovered that the violators installed a 200-metre illegal pipe on a main carrier that supplies Um Al Rummaneh with its water needs. The illegal pipe was diverting 30-40 cubic metres of water per hour to the private villa,” the source, who requested not to be named, told The Jordan Times.

The official said that the alleged illegal pipeline, which cost around JD200,000 to be installed, was diverting the municipality’s water to irrigate farms and fill up a 150-cubic-metre pool which was installed with pumps.

“The technical teams removed the illegal pipeline and the entire related infrastructure, while security authorities are in the process of identifying the violators,” the ministry’s official indicated.

The official underscored that the alleged violation was a primary reason for the insufficient supply reaching subscribers in Um Al Rummaneh, noting that the ministry is now conducting a survey on all carriers in the area.

Water theft in Jordan is blamed for 70 per cent of water loss, according to the ministry, which indicated that around 110 million cubic metres have been saved annually since authorities launched a national campaign in 2013 to end water theft and violations on water networks and resources.

The official noted that more than 800 cases of water theft have been referred to court since the ministry launched the campaign.