by Hana Namrouqa | Nov 05, 2013 | 17:54 Updated: Nov 05, 2013

AMMAN – The Ministry of Water and Irrigation on Tuesday raised the pumping capacity of the Disi Water Conveyance Project by 20 per cent, according to government officials.

The project now operates at 90 per cent of its total pumping capacity of 100 million cubic metres (mcm) per year, Minister of Water and Irrigation Hazem Nasser said.

A series of chemical, physical and biological lab tests have carried out to examine the quality of the water and the safety of the conveyance pipeline, Nasser said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

“All tests showed that the water is in line with local drinking water standards and the conveyance pipeline is efficient after raising the project’s pumping capacity,” the minister noted.

The Disi project, which was launched on July 10, now pumps 90mcm per year to Amman and other governorates and “will reach its maximum capacity soon,” a source at GAMA, the Turkish company which implemented the project and is operating it, told The Jordan Times.

In the statement, the minister underscored that the additional amount of water will further improve the water supply in the capital and Russeifa, as well as the Zarqa and Balqa governorates, noting that Amman residents currently receive 60-62 pumping hours per week.

Carried out on a build-operate-transfer, the project entailed the construction of a 325-kilometre pipeline to convey water from the ancient Disi aquifer in southern Jordan to the capital.

The water is being transferred to Amman via the pipeline, which passes through several water stations in Maan, Tafileh, Karak and Madaba.

http://jordantimes.com/disi-project-now-operating-at-90-of-capacity—-nasser