Turkish steel pipes for DISI water project in Amman (Jordan)

Jordan Times reported that a total of 40 trucks carrying pipes for the Disi Water Conveyance Project have arrived in Amman from Turkey this month.

A source at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said that "Another 40,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes of pipes are expected to enter the Kingdom over the next 3 months for the implementation of the project."

The official said that the pipes which will be used to transfer water from the ancient Disi aquifer south of the capital are being stored at a warehouse in the Khan Zabib area, 20 kilometres south of the Queen Alia International Airport.

To be carried out on a build operate transfer basis by the Turkish company GAMA, the project entails constructing 325 kilometre pipeline that will convey water from the ancient Disi aquifer to Amman. The project is estimated to use around 250,000 tonnes of steel pipes. The Disi project is expected to supply the capital with 100 million cubic metres of water annually.

Mr Mohammad Najjar minister of water and irrigation of Jordan recently announced that digging of wells to access the Disi aquifer and the implementation of the project will commence late next month.

The project also entails digging 55 underground wells in the Disi aquifer to a depth of 500 metres. The water will be transferred to Amman via a pipeline which will pass through several water stations from Maan Tafileh Karak Madaba and finally to Amman.

According to the source, more than 90% of construction work on the project's main offices in Mudawara, built over 5,500 square metre area has been completed. The price of 1 cubic metre of water generated from the Disi project went down from JOD 0.87 to JOD 0.74 after the government raised its stake in the project and steel prices fell on international markets.

Water officials consider the Disi project as Jordan's first step towards achieving water security and the Jordan Red Sea Development Project as the Kingdom's long term solution to its acute water shortage.