Jordanian Water Conservation Campaign Going Straight to the Private Home in Amman

Yalla Nwaffer Mai, or Let’s Save Water is a water conservation campaign launched in July by the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna), HSBC Bank, and USAID to fight water waste and create awareness about the need to conservate water in Jordan.  Jordan is categorized as the fourth water-poorest country in the world.

The target of the campaign has been to distribute and install water saving devices (free of charge) in order to reduce consumption in target areas known for consuming large quantities of water.  Since western Amman consumes over 20 percent of the city’s water allocation, the campaign focused on that region.

To date a total of 1,200 houses have been equipped with these water saving devices in west Amman neighborhoods such as Um Uthaina, Sweileh, Sweifieh, Sheisani, the Sports City area, and Khalda.  The campaign organizers originally planned to equip 2,500 homes with the devices, but then stated that the numbers had been reduced since standard houses in these target areas needed more devices than originally expected.

Nada Heeti, the account executive for the company responsible for installing the devices, said that “most of the houses in these areas have three or four bathrooms which means more water-saving devices – one of the houses in Khalda even had 13 bathrooms, so we have adjusted our strategy.”  13 bathrooms??  No wonder there is a water consumption problem.

The bathrooms are probably not entirely to blame, though, since Mohammad Chebaane (USAID-funded IDARA Project Chief of Party) says studies indicate that 50 percent of water consumption comes from faucets, half from kitchen faucets.  He added that kitchen water consumption in homes across Jordan is 25 percent higher than the international average.

The campaign organizers hope that the devices will reduce water usage by 30 percent, saving water for the country and money for the homeowners.  Water meters in participating households will be measured at the end of the year in order to determine how much water was actually saved.

:: Jordan Times (original article written by Hana Namrouqa)

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