Research Synthesis

INWRDAM conducted Phase I of this IDRC funded project from May 2001 to May 2003 in Tafila Governorate, southern Jordan. During Phase I, INWRDAM installed 25 greywater units in low-income households of a peri-urban community of Ein Al-Baida town in Tafila. Five different types of on-site greywater treatment units/modules were developed and tested over more than three years. Two out of the five modules were selected as potential units for further improvement and scale up. One module is known as the 4-barrel unit, which consists of four recycled plastic barrels lined up in an arrangement to receive greywater and achieve physical and biological treatment. A small automatic electric pump is used to deliver treated greywater to a trickle irrigation system serving a small garden of trees. The second unit is known as the Confined Trench (CT) module. It consists of a stage for removal of oil and grease as well as a dug trench of about 3.5 m3 filled with gravel that serves as the treatment medium. The treated greywater is then pumped automatically through a trickle irrigation system to the beneficiaries’ home garden. In addition to units installed in Ein Al-Baida, in 2002 INWRDAM also installed over 750 greywater units of different types for the benefit of low-income families across Jordan through a project financed by the Jordanian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC).

In Phase II (February 2004 - October 2007), 110 additional greywater systems for low-income families in a cluster of six peri-urban areas of Karak Governorate are constructed, so as to further improve technical aspects, remove social and institutional obstacles and build momentum, thus accelerating the adoption of the reuse system in Jordan and elsewhere in the region. Phase II will involve cooperation between concerned agencies in wastewater reuse, social development, building codes and public health. The National Centre for Agriculture Research and Extension (NCARE) is involved in the environmental and agricultural research components of this project.