by Hana Namrouqa | Jun 28, 2012

AMMAN — The capital’s water distribution system is back on track following supply disruptions and no further cuts are expected, a Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna) official said on Thursday.

Several households in Amman’s southern and western areas missed their turn under the water distribution programme when the Zara-Maeen Water Treatment Plant suspended pumping between Saturday and Monday.

“The treatment plant resumed pumping water to the capital late Monday and the water distribution programme has returned to normal,” Miyahuna Operations Manager Ghazi Khalil told The Jordan Times over the phone on Thursday.

Pumping from the plant, which provides Amman with 110,000 cubic metres of water per day, was suspended when turbidity levels increased due to heavy rain and floods last weekend in Karak Governorate, 140 kilometres south of Amman, Khalil noted.

Miyahuna usually pumps around 408,000 cubic metres of water to Amman daily from several water sources such as the Zara Maeen Water Treatment Plant, Qastal wells, Qatraneh, Swaqa and the Zai Water Treatment Plant, which is the capital’s major water provider, supplying 40 per cent of its drinking water.

“We have increased the amount of water pumped to subscribers in Amman this summer to 415,000-420,000 cubic metres per day,” Khalil underscored.

Several households in Amman resorted to purchasing water from tankers after they missed their turn earlier this week.

“There was not a drop of water in the house, therefore, my husband bought water from a tanker for JD40,” Um Salim, a mother of six who lives in Jubeiha, said on Thursday.

Households receive water once a week on a rotating basis under the water distribution programme.

Scarce water resources in the country, categorised as the fourth poorest in the world in terms of water availability, forced the Kingdom in the early 1980s to apply the programme to conserve limited water amounts and ensure a sustainable water supply to subscribers.

http://jordantimes.com/some-amman-taps-run-dry-after-treatment-plant-suspends-pumping