Lebanon’s Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) is currently evaluating bids for the main tunnel package for the Greater Beirut Water Supply Project in Lebanon.

The CDR received bids for the estimated $180m package in May and is still currently evaluating proposals. The lowest price was submitted by Italy’s Societa Italiana Per Condotte D’ Aqua, according to sources close to the project.

The estimated $370m Greater Beirut project will involve increasing the supply of drinkable water and improve the pipes running into buildings in southern Beirut. The proposed water supply scheme will involve constructing two water tunnels, three big storage reservoirs, 16 supply reservoirs, a water treatment plant and new smaller pipelines, pumping stations and household meters.

The project will take water from the existing Joun reservoir, which draws water from the Litani and Awali rivers. Water from the Joun reservoir will be transferred through the underground tunnels to a water treatment plant and then on to the 3 major storage reservoirs.

The water scheme aims to increase short-term supply of potable water in the area by 250,000 cubic metres, with 1.2 million residents expected to benefit from the project. Importantly, the project will supply water for about 350,000 low-income residents in a southern Beirut suburb, which are most in need of water.

The project is being developed jointly by the Electricity & Water Ministry, the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) and the Beirut Mount Lebanon Water Establishment (BMLWE). The World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a $200m loan to help finance the scheme.

In March, BMLWE invited companies to submit bids for a contract to provide and install pumping stations, reservoirs and distribution networks for the water project.