Al KARAMEH - More than 30,000 Shuneh residents are now
receiving much-needed water from the Karameh Dam desalination
plant.
After two months of experimental pumping to ensure that the
desalinated water is fit for human consumption, residents of
Deir Alla in the Jordan Valley started receiving water from
the plant last week.
The desalination plant, which was officially inaugurated on
Thursday, aims to provide one million cubic metres (mcm) of
water annually, in an effort to ease pressure on water sources
in Shuneh.
During the inauguration ceremony yesterday, Minister of
Water and Irrigation Mohammad Najjar noted that resorting to
desalination is a clear indicator of Jordan’s severe water
shortage and depletion of surface and groundwater sources.
“In light of the lack of the precious resource, every
individual shoulders the responsibility of protecting each
drop of water,” he underscored.
“The project is vital not only because it desalinates
saline water but also because it involves the participation of
the private sector,” Najjar added.
Constructed on a build-operate-transfer basis by a local
company, the plant pumps 2,400 cubic metres per day, some one
million cubic metres a year.
Najjar highlighted that under the project’s second phase,
scheduled to start soon, the plant’s pumping capacity will be
raised to four million cubic metres per year.
Constructed in Wadi Mallaha 10 years ago, the Karameh Dam
was primarily designed to store surplus water flow and excess
water streaming down from the King Talal Dam and the Yarmouk
River.
But the high percentage of salinity in the water stored in
the dam made it unfit for drinking or agricultural purposes,
prompting the establishment of a desalination plant to utilise
the stored water.
The Karameh Dam, the second largest in the Kingdom,
currently holds 18mcm of its total storage capacity of
52mcm.
According to officials, water per capita in Deir Alla has
increased from 110 litres per day to 130 litres since the
plant started operation.