Originally built with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant is the primary facility for treating wastewater from Jordan’s Amman and Zarqa Governorates. The plant is nearing its capacity, and without an expansion to properly handle growing volumes of wastewater in the region, the plant could become overloaded, its ability to treat wastewater properly could deteriorate, and downstream agricultural areas that rely on treated water for irrigation could face serious food safety risks and the loss of markets for their agricultural products.

The As-Samra Expansion Project is designed to address this challenge by expanding the plant’s treatment capacity by 97,800 cubic meters per day, an increase of more than one-third. The expansion is expected to meet the region’s wastewater treatment needs through 2025. As an innovative opportunity to leverage MCC grant funds to attract private financing, the As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant will be expanded in partnership with a private sector operator that will mobilize a portion of the cost of construction. This arrangement may also enhance operational sustainability by transferring some risks related to financing, construction and operations to the private sector.

Zarqa Governorate is served by an outdated sewer system that limits the collection of wastewater and endangers public health. The system regularly overflows into city streets and the surrounding environment, relies on pump stations that have insufficient capacity and serves only 72 percent of the population.

The Wastewater Network Reinforcement and Expansion Project (Wastewater Network Project) will address these problems by replacing or rehabilitating up to 29 kilometers of undersized trunk lines and expanding sewers by up to 140 kilometers in the neighborhoods of East Zarqa and West Zarqa, both of which lack proper sewer connections. Sewer line extensions will raise coverage rates from 72 percent to about 85 percent of the local population. These new customer connections should also generate wastewater to be treated at the As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant and eventually be re-used for agricultural purposes downstream in the Jordan Valley.

At present, an estimated 57 percent of the potable water supply in Jordan’s Zarqa Governorate is lost through leaks
in the water transmission and distribution network, with additional losses attributed to management weaknesses.
The Water Network Restructuring and Rehabilitation Project (Water Network Project) is designed to reduce water
loss by constructing and repairing reservoirs, pump stations and up to 67 kilometers of primary, 927 kilometers of secondary and 256 kilometers of tertiary pipes. The project will replace household connections and meters in the two poorest, most heavily populated water service areas of Zarqa Governorate. The project will also convert the system to gravity-fed distribution that should improve customer service, reduce wear and tear on critical infrastructure, and extend the lifespan of the network.

To ensure benefits reach the poor, the project includes technical and financial assistance to very poor households to improve plumbing, water storage, sewage connections, and general awareness of best practices for basic sanitation, water storage and efficient water use.