‘133,000 cubic metres of water saved in crackdown on water wasters’

AMMAN — The Ministry of Water has saved 133,000 cubic metres of water in its crackdown on water waste, Minister Hazem Nasser said on Saturday.

The ministry’s field teams implemented 480 surveys across the Kingdom in July and August, as part of a campaign to address water waste, Nasser said, adding that surveys put citizens’ response to the campaign at 58 per cent.

The number of recorded monthly violations related to water misuse or waste dropped from 1,610 in August 2015 to 638 over the last month, Nasser said in a ministry statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Amman registered 300 violations in July’s surveys, and 80 violations in August, a 73.3 per cent drop, marking the largest decrease in Jordan. 

On the other hand, Mafraq, some 80km northeast of Amman, registered the lowest drop in violations of 36.36 per cent, from 110 in July to 70 in August, Petra reported.

The ministry’s campaign calculates the total amount of lost water by estimating an average of 4 cubic metres for each violation.

The ministry launched the campaign in June, under which water companies and directorates across the Kingdom are required to enforce the law against consumers who use potable water for any purpose other than drinking.

Under the campaign, people who use drinking water to irrigate trees, wash cars, clean-up driveways, pavements, or gardens using a hose are penalised, and water is suspended from households whose rooftop water tanks leak.