Jordan’s Ministry of Water & Irrigation and the Water Authority of Jordan have invited companies to submit bids for the contract to build the Na’our wastewater treatment plant.

The plant will have the capacity to process up to process up to 17,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) of domestic wastewater in the Wadi Essir and Na’our sewerage catchment area, south west of the capital of Amman.

Contractors have until 2 November to submit bids for the contract.

In addition to designing and building the wastewater treatment plant, the contract will involve design and build of a transmission pipeline from Na’our to the wastewater treatment plant.

Jordan has received a loan from South Korea’s Export-Import Bank to go towards the cost of the scheme.

Jordan is also planning to expand the capacity of the Al-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant. In March, the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) tendered a feasibility study for the third phase of the Al-Samra project.

The winning team of consultants will carry out technical, financial, legal, environmental studies.

EBRD is considering financing and providing support for the proposed expansion, which will increase the plant’s capacity by 100,000 to 145,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

It was originally planned to be commissioned in 2025 but will now have to be brought forward to meet higher than expected demand.

Syrian refugees in Jordan officially number 628,427 but the actual number is probably higher due to unregistered refugees living outside camps. They are putting acute stress on already scarce water supplies in northern Jordan.