By Mohammad Ghazal

NAGOYA – Japan is committed to providing its expertise to help the Kingdom reduce water loss, according to a Japanese development official.

Japan, which has succeeded in reducing its non-revenue water percentage (water loss) to 3.5 per cent, is actively implementing projects in Jordan and providing training to Jordanian experts to address water loss, said Haruyo Nakamura, programme officer at the training programme division at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Chubu.

“We will continue to support Jordan and provide it with our expertise to sharply reduce its non-revenue water percentage,” Nakamura told The Jordan Times on Thursday at the agency’s centre in Nagoya.

JICA has implemented several projects to rehabilitate worn-out water networks as well as renew and replace pumping stations in the Kingdom, where water loss stands at around 43 per cent.

Nakamura explained that the JICA training aims to assist water pipe management and acquaint experts in the latest leakage detection techniques.

According to Nakamura, nine Jordanian water experts have received non-revenue water management training at JICA Chubu.

“The idea of training Jordanians and others here is to familiarise them with latest methods we use in Japan in detecting water leakages, which is a big problem in developing countries,” she said.

Nakamura added that two water experts working at water-concerned entities in the Kingdom have applied for non-revenue water management training that will take place in Japan in November 2011.

In Jordan, the annual per capita share of water stands at around 150 cubic metres, well below the global water poverty line of 1,000 cubic metres per year. Water loss levels vary from governorate to governorate, with some of the highest levels recorded in Mafraq (55 per cent) and Karak (60 per cent).

Water loss at the national level is expected to drop to 35 per cent in 2015 as a result of ongoing projects to replace worn-out networks, Jordanian water officials have said in previous remarks.
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