Network of demonstration activities for sustainable integrated wastewater treatment and reuse in the Mediterranean

Project description

Title: Network of demonstration activities for sustainable integrated wastewater treatment and reuse in the Mediterranean
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU)
Country: Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Water and Irrigation Jordan, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation Egypt, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Tunisia, State Secretary for Water and Environment Morocco
Overall term: 2012 to 2015

Context

Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia are all affected by water scarcity, and are among the most water-poor countries in the world. Their renewable water resources are currently being overexploited, which is undermining the sustainability of supply for domestic, industrial and agricultural uses. There is a lack of good practices for the treatment and reuse of wastewater. Decision makers do not possess the capacities they need for implementing sustainable water policies. Reusing wastewater could provide an alternative to overexploiting fresh water resources and in the long run could contribute to sustainable integrated water policies in the region.

Objective

The integrated management of non-conventional water resources in Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia has become more sustainable.

Approach

At the national level, in the four target countries of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia the project is conducting pilot activities to identify appropriate forms of wastewater treatment and reuse. These activities will demonstrate innovative approaches that can be applied at different stages of wastewater processing, especially the reuse of treated municipal wastewater for irrigation. The main aims of the pilot projects in each country are:

Morocco: to address wastewater by separating it at its source, to introduce decentralised treatment methods that promote reuse, and to reuse the water effectively for energy and agricultural production. The project is also working to improve rainwater harvesting.

Jordan: to treat wastewater centrally by conventional means, and to use alternative technologies in decentralised facilities to promote the reuse of treated water in agriculture and for the restoration of the environment.

Tunisia: to control the quality of treated wastewater in storage and during transfer to the end users. This includes the introduction of contracts between farmers and (waste)water providers that stipulate water quality.

Egypt: to provide secondary treatment and to use treated water for irrigation of agricultural land.

A number of different activities are also taking place at the regional level to support knowledge exchanges and capacity building. This includes establishing a common framework for baseline assessments, running regional and local training courses, hosting regional conferences, and compiling a catalogue of lessons learned.

To implement the various projects in the four countries, GIZ is cooperating with several organisations: Al Balqa Applied University, Jordan; the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Jordan; the National Research Centre, Egypt; the Office National de l‘Assainissement, Tunisia; the Agence du Bassin Hydraulique du Sous-Massa et Draa, Morocco; Adelphi Research, Germany; and the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development, Italy.