Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

  • Closed Compact Report:  Closed Compact Report: Jordan Compact
  • September 2018

Wastewater Network Reinforcement and Expansion Project

  • $58,220,000Original Compact Project Amount
  • $75,789,801.20 Total Disbursed

The Wastewater Network Project and As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion Project provided the Zarqa and Amman Governorates with a more efficient wastewater treatment plant to improve the quality of wastewater flowing into the Jordan Valley, as well as reinforced the wastewater system within Zarqa by reinforcing the sewer lines in the Governorate. Due to the shared goals of these two projects, MCC calculated a combined ERR. The table below shows the combined benefits of the two projects.

Estimated Benefits[[Estimated benefits correspond to $188 million of project funds, where cost-benefit analysis was conducted.]]

  Estimated Economic Rate of Return over 20 years Estimated beneficiaries over 20 years Estimated net benefits over 20 years (present value)
At the time of signing 14% 2.0 million[[This corresponds to the population increment of Zarqa and Amman over 20 years plus about 50,000 agricultural beneficiaries.  The total estimated beneficiary population would have been about 5.1 million if one considers the total population as beneficiaries and not the cumulative increment. This is the position for the end of compact re-assessment.](5.1 million revised)  2005 PPP $602 million
At compact closure 21% 9 million[[The higher beneficiary number reflects the revised view of project benefits as primarily comprising resource savings to the economy at large. To date, observations do not validate expected changes in consumer usage of water and expenditure on water that were anticipated at the time of compact development. The number includes a farming population in the Jordan Valley that would have lost livelihoods in the absence of access to treated waste water to substitute for declining available supplies of fresh surface water for use in irrigation.]] 2012 constant $493 million (approximately 2005 PPP $700 million)[[The original presentation was in 2005 PPP dollars for international comparisons. The end of compact analysis was carried out in 2012 constant values.]]

The economic analysis for the Wastewater Network and As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion Projects was based on valuing savings in the cost of water supply for the Government of Jordan due to the substitution of treated wastewater for use in irrigated agriculture where more expensive surface fresh water otherwise would have been used. The estimated ERR for the projects increased from 14 percent when the compact was signed to 21 percent at the end of the compact due primarily to two factors. First, the project exceeded its civil works targets, providing higher water collection capacity than anticipated at the time of compact development. Second, the cost of bulk fresh water rose during compact implementation, increasing the value of cost savings from substituting treated wastewater for fresh water for the Government.

Project Summary

In 2007, the wastewater collection system in Zarqa Governorate was limited in reach and endangered public health. The system frequently overflowed into city streets and the surrounding environment, relied on pump stations that had insufficient capacity, and did not serve nearly 30 percent of the population. The Wastewater Network Project represented the largest investment in wastewater infrastructure improvements for Zarqa Governorate system. The objectives of the project were to (i) increase access to the wastewater network, (ii) increase the volume of wastewater collected within Zarqa Governorate for treatment and reuse, and (iii) reduce the incidents of sewage overflow.

The Wastewater Network Project was originally comprised of two activities: (i) the reinforcement of existing networks and rehabilitation of existing sewer main lines in West Zarqa, and (ii) the reinforcement of existing networks and rehabilitation of existing sewer main lines in East Zarqa.

The project extended service to households that were not connected to the sewer network by constructing over 300 kilometers of new sewers in the neighborhoods of East Zarqa and West Zarqa, both of which lacked access to the sewer network. The extension of lateral sewer lines raised wastewater service coverage rates from 72 percent to about 84 percent of the local Jordanian population, though coverage rates of the full population dropped due to the influx of Syrian and Iraqi refugees. These new customer connections also generated additional wastewater. The project provided more than 8,700 connection points to the wastewater pipes, which allowed over 54,800 people to be connected to the new wastewater system. These new customer connections generated additional wastewater which is treated at the As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant and reused in agriculture downstream in the Jordan Valley. The project also utilized unused budget identified during implementation of the compact to add 65 kilometers of pipes to the Princess Haya neighborhood of the Zarqa Governorate and to purchase high pressure jet cleaning vehicles for the water utility to enhance system maintenance. More information can be found in the Compact Changes section below.

Key Performance Indicators and Outputs at Compact End Date

Activity/Outcomes Key Performance Indicators Baseline End of Compact Target Quarter 1 through Quarter 20 Actuals Percent Compact Target Satisfied
Wastewater Network ProjectOutcome: Increase access to the wastewater network, increase the volume of wastewater collected and reduce the incidents of sewage overflow Number of Complaints Received About Sewer Blockage 8,500 2,000 3,307 80%
Volume of wastewater collected (cubic meters/year – millions) 24 31 37.5 193%
Percentage of the population connected to the wastewater network 72 85 67.4 -35%
Percentage of the population connected to the wastewater network - forecasted population 72 85 83.7 90%
Total number of wastewater network subscribers 94,778 119,793 131,499 147%
Total number of wastewater connection points constructed by MCC 0 5,653 8,768 155%
Kilometers of pipelines that are expanded, reinforced or rehabilitated 0 287.0 295.4 103%

Explanation of Results as of Compact End Date

By applying unused budget identified during implementation of the compact, the Wastewater Network Project built more kilometers of pipes and connection points than expected. With this expansion, more people subscribed to the wastewater network at the end of the compact than forecasted. Despite increasing the number of people served by the wastewater network beyond the target, the percentage of the population connected to the wastewater network fell over the course of the compact by 35 percent. This was due to the sudden influx of Syrian and Iraqi refugees roughly halfway through the compact term, which caused the population in Zarqa to increase unexpectedly. Without the influx of refugees, if the population had grown at the rate expected at the beginning of the compact, the percentage of the population served by the network would have increased from 72 to 85 with the wastewater network expansion, nearly achieving the compact target.

Over the life of the compact, Miyahuna-Zarqa began managing the Zarqa utility and improved the customer service provided at the call center. With this improvement in response to customer complaints, more calls were recorded by Miyahuna each time there was a sewer network blockage. Despite the increase in number of calls and improvements in recording, the number of complaints received about sewer network blockage still fell substantially over the life of the compact, reflecting a better performing network.