Amman, Zarqa residents to receive less water during Disi maintenance

AMMAN — Residents of Amman and Zarqa will receive reduced water and experience shortened pumping hours this week, as the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna) on Sunday starts maintenance on the Disi Water Conveyance Project, a Miyahuna senior official said on Saturday.

Changes in the amounts of water supplied to subscribers as well as the number of pumping hours under the weekly water distribution programme are expected as of Sunday, when the company will suspend pumping water from the Disi project, a main water source to Amman and Zarqa, Miyahuna CEO, Ghazi Khalil, said.

Khalil underscored that the company has been preparing for the suspension of the pumping of water from the Disi project since last month to ensure minimal disruption for residents in both governorates.

“The programme will continue undisrupted this week but people will receive less water than usual and will witness slight reduction in pumping hours,” Khalil told The Jordan Times.

Under the water distribution programme, households across the Kingdom receive water once during a certain period, usually between 7 to 10 days, on a rotating basis. Scarce water resources in the country compelled the Kingdom to initiate the programme in the early 1980s to conserve limited resources whilst ensuring a sustainable supply of water.

As the company will suspend water pumping from the Disi project for four days starting on Sunday, it has been filling it reservoirs in Amman and Zarqa to avoid water cuts while it carries out maintenance on the Disi project, Khalil highlighted.

The Disi project conveys 100mcm annually from the Disi aquifer in southern Jordan to the capital via a 325-kilometre pipeline. The project started pumping water to Amman in 2013.

Maintenance on the Disi project is part of an annual maintenance on all of the water sources and pumping stations, Khalil said.

“The company always opts for carrying out maintenance during winter and particularly in December, when water consumption is at its lowest,” he underlined.

Miyahuna has 600,000 subscribers in Amman and 150,000 subscribers in Zarqa.