Jordan

Jordan (1): As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant

1. Description of the site

   Situated on the upstream of King Talal Dam, the As-Samra plant is responsible for the treatment of wastewater from Amman and Zarqa districts. As-Samra wastewater treatment plant has a designed treatment capacity of 68,000m3/day, the largest among the 16 WTPs in Jordan.

   Since the beginning of its operation in 1985, the amount of sewage flowing into the As-Samra wastewater treatment plant has been increasing rapidly and has overloaded the plant's designed capacity, mainly due to the high population growth in the metropolitan Amman-Zarqa area. The current amount of actual influent is over 170,000m3/day, almost three times the amount of the designed capacity.

   To improve the over-capacity problem, USAID is now supporting to build an additional treatment facility within the plant.

2. Major concerns

   Water quality deterioration: The quality of effluent coming out of the As-Samra wastewater treatment plant is degraded due to the overcapacity, and this is deteriorating the water quality along Zarqa River and King Talal Dam. This may also pose a potential threat to the water quality of Jordan River, which is further downstream, although most of the water quality is said to recover through natural purification process along the Zarqa River.

   Other concerns due to overcapacity: Apart from the water quality concerns, the overflow of sewage influent is creating additional problems such as sewage odors, which may further deteriorate the environmental conditions in and around the treatment plant.

3. Regional aspects

Water quality in Jordan River: The possible water quality deterioration in Jordan River can have adverse impacts on Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, the three parties along Jordan River.

   Overcapacity problem in the region: The overcapacity problem is a common issue for the wastewater treatment plants in the region, and effective solutions to this problem will be an asset for the region as a whole. 4. Possible initiatives taken in the multilateral context

• Training program on wastewater management
• Workshop on water quality monitoring
• Workshop on public awareness campaign programs

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Jordan (2): Solid Waste and Sewage Dump Site in Al-Ekeder

1. Description of the site

Solid waste and sewage dumping site in Al-Ekeder is situated on the northern border area facing Syria, approximately 25km east of Irbid, the second largest city in Jordan. The 60ha dumping site has been in operation since 1980 as a dumping site for both solid and liquid wastes from 48 municipalities covering Irbid Governance and the northwestern part of Mafraq Governance.

   As for solid wastes, a daily average of 330 tons of domestic / industrial / hazardous wastes are discharged in this area from sources including two universities, two industrial complexes and two refugee camps. It is estimated that around 96% of the dumped solid wastes are domestic wastes and the remaining 4% are either industrial or hazardous wastes. A simple sanitary dumping process is adopted in Al-Ekeder dumping site, in which a layer of soil is inserted in every 1.5m of solid waste dumping, in order to avoid leachate.

   A three-stage evaporation process is adopted for liquid waste treatment in Al-Ekeder. The sludge resulting from the evaporation process of 3,000m3/day of septage is periodically evacuated from the drying bed and dumped in the solid waste dumping site nearby.

2. Major concerns

   Water quality deterioration: Although sanitary dumping process is preventing a major escape of leachate, some of the leachate is being percolated into the ground and is apparently causing water quality deterioration in Yarmuk River.

   Environmental degradation: Article 15 of the Environment Protection Law stipulates the necessity of environmental impact assessment for development projects, but EIA has not been conducted for Al-Ekeder dumping site. Although no serious environmental degradation has been reported, some measures should be taken to assess the environmental situations in the area.

3. Regional aspects

   Water quality deterioration due to leachate: Leachate escape from solid waste dumping site is commonly observed throughout the region and should be addressed as a regional concern for preserving the quality of underground water resources.

4. Possible initiatives taken in the multilateral context

• Training program on solid waste / wastewater management
• Water quality monitoring along Yarmuk River

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Jordan (3): Irbid Wastewater Treatment Plant

1. Description of the site

   Irbid wastewater treatment plant has been in operation since 1987 (its construction began in 1984 with support from the USAID) and is in charge of treating an average of about 10,000m3/day of wastewater coming from the city of Irbid. The plant is currently serving for 120,000-150,000 persons, which are about 60% of the urban population. The designed capacity of the plant is 12,000m3/day with a designed peak flow of 30,000m3/day, and overcapacity problem, which is common in the region, is not observed in this plant.

   The BOD of the influent and effluent is about 800mg/l and 40mg/l respectively, making the BOD extraction rate of about 95%, which is a good figure compared with those observed in other plants in the region. There are 10 monitoring points in the facilities to collect data on the water quality along the treatment process, and the data are monitored and analyzed in the laboratory on the daily basis.

   Sludge which is accumulated in the treatment process will be stored in the drying bed inside the treatment facility, and the dried sludge is currently being collected and dumped to Al-Ekeder dumping site.

   Part of the treated wastewater as well as untreated sewage eventually flows to Jordan River and the rest will flow into the ground water aquifer downstream. To meet the quality standard of the treated wastewater flowing from Irbid city, there is a plan to construct a new wastewater plant on the lower altitude of the city, which will cover the population currently not connected to the Irbid treatment plant.

2. Major concerns

   Utilization of sludge is the primary problem for the Irbid wastewater treatment plant. The accumulated sledge from the plant is putting an additional environmental pressure on Al-Ekeder dumping site, and the possibility of utilizing the sludge (recycling for fertilizer, etc.) should be investigated.

3. Possible initiatives taken in the multilateral context

• Joint workshop on solid wastes and wastewater management, focusing on the proper management and possible reuse of sludge accumulated in the process of wastewater treatment

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Jordan (4): Jordan Valley Authority Diar Control Center

1. Description of the site

   The Dirar Control Center, located in Deir Alla, is a JVA owned facility responsible for the water management of the King Abdullah Canal (KAC), which extends 110 km from the Yarmuk River in the northern borders to the Dead Sea. JVA with assistance form the German government has developed the Water Management Information System (WMIS) in managing the complex hydraulic scheme of KAC. WMIS is a decision support system which balances the available water resources with irrigation and municipal demands on daily, monthly and seasonal basis.

   WMIS is composed mainly of the following four sub-systems:

2. Major concerns

   Water quality management: Due to the Center's responsibilities, the system is largely focused on managing water quantity. A closer attention to the water quality aspect might be needed in better and comprehensible management of water resources in the Jordan Valley.

3. Regional aspects

   The water management is a vital issue in the region, and the automatic operation system of the Center will be of interest to other parties concerned.

4. Possible initiatives taken in the multilateral context

• Seminar / training program on water quality monitoring practices

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Jordan (5): Presentation on National Environmental Pollution Monitoring System

1. Presentation summary

   In addressing the rapid deterioration of environmental situations in Jordan since the 1980s, the Jordanian government has taken a number of measures for environmental protection, which eventually resulted in the enactment of the Environment Protection Law in 1996. Following the issuance of the Law, HCST established national environmental quality standards, comprising of environmental quality standards, emission standards and effluent standards on water, air and soil. In order to implement the established environmental standards, HCST developed a proposal for establishing a "National Environmental Pollution Monitoring System (NEPMS)."

   NEPMS's monitoring objects are air (ambient air and industrial stack emissions), water (surface water, groundwater, domestic and industrial wastewater), and soil. The system will consist of:

(1) 25 "intermittent" monitoring institutions" which are responsible for collecting environmental data of their respective fields as stipulated by the Law,
(2) 26 "continuous monitoring stations" which will collect and send environmental data continuously through electronic means, and
(3) the "National Center for Environmental Research and Monitoring," which will be responsible for monitoring environmental pollution through its monitoring stations throughout the country and implementing various measures to control environmental pollution.

   As for the water quality monitoring system, there will be a total of 13 continuous monitoring locations along major rivers (Yarmuk River, Zarqa River, Jordan River), water conveyors (King Abdullah Canal, Zai Conveyor) and wastewater treatment facilities. There will also be 2 water monitoring stations in the Gulf of Aqaba.

2. Regional aspects

   Environmental pollution monitoring is, especially on rivers and sites on the border areas, is of common interest to all parties in the region. The monitoring mechanism will have a greater impact when environmental pollution data are shared and disseminated among the parties concerned.

3. Possible initiatives taken in the multilateral context

• Seminars on environmental pollution monitoring and standard setting

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Jordan (6): Presentation on the Activities of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN)

1. Presentation summary

The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) is an independent voluntary organization devoted to the conservation of Jordan's natural resources. It was founded in 1966 under the patronage of King Hussein and has been given responsibility by the Government of Jordan for protecting the countrty's wildlife and wildplaces. It is one of the few voluntary organizations in the Middle East which has been given public service mandate.

2. Possible initiatives taken in the multilateral context

• Establishment of the "Regional Environmental Training Center"

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