Jordan: Grey water reuse systems installed in Karak village

Grey water reuse systems have been installed at a mosque and a school in Karak Governorate’s Faqou village to address the water shortage and raise awareness on water use efficiency, conservationists said on Tuesday.

Water from the public school and the mosque are filtered using pebbles and stones and then used for irrigating green spaces at the two facilities, according to the conservationists.

Under the “Improving Resilience of Vulnerable Communities in Faqou Village Project”, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) is implementing schemes that support livelihood of residents, while raising their awareness on water and energy usage efficiency at the same time, project manager Ehab Eid said.

The installation of the two grey water reuse systems started in April, when the EU-funded project was launched, Eid said, noting that the projects were handed over to the managements of the school and mosque on Tuesday.

“The project also seeks to preserve the much needed water in Faqou village by applying more water harvesting projects, grey water reuse systems as well as guiding residents into ways to reduce electricity consumption,” Eid told The Jordan Times.

Located near the Mujib Biosphere Reserve, Faqou village is one of the Kingdom’s poverty pockets and has a population of 8,400 people, who mainly work in the public sector, the armed forces or in raising livestock, according to the RSCN.

The village, which is a good example of how to address communities that are out of reach of mainstream services and resources, was selected based on the assessment of its poverty rate, which is below the poverty line, and because Faqou is an area where the shortage of water is impeding socio-economic growth.

Project Coordinator Rami Akhras said grey water reuse systems will also be installed in several households in Faqou to generate water for the irrigation of crops or livestock, taking into consideration several factors, such as socio-economic conditions.