Water supply to Karak resumes

AMMAN — Wells and water stations in Karak Governorate resumed pumping at full capacity by Wednesday after power cuts and malfunctions disrupted water distribution, according to officials.

The Sultani-Ghweir pipe, the main supplier of water to Karak, malfunctioned on Monday night, according to Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) Secretary General Tawfik Habashneh, who noted that wells and pumping stations in Karak also shut down due to power outages.

“Some of the Allajoun wells in Karak, as well as pumping stations in Sultani and Allajoun, stopped pumping water due to power cuts, which disrupted the water distribution programme and left the majority of Karak residents without water,” Habashneh said in a statement.

The Sultani-Ghweir carrier also malfunctioned for 15 hours, before WAJ technical teams were able to fix it, an official at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said, noting that partial water supply to Karak resumed on Tuesday morning, while the water distribution programme went back to normal by Wednesday morning.

“The water supply in Karak is now smooth,” the official told The Jordan Times on condition of anonymity. 

Karak, situated 120 kilometres south of Amman, has a population of 170,000 people, according to the Department of Statistics. 

The governorate is home to several of the country’s main wells, streams and dams.

Water per capita in Karak stands at 165 litres per day, according to the ministry, which described the amount as above average. 

However, 60 per cent of the supplied water is lost through leakage due to violations and deteriorated water networks, pipes and pumping stations.