Integrated Wastewater Management Policies & Technologies For Marginal Communities In Jordan

Wastewater management is a continuing problem in many countries in the world. The problem is relatively more acute in Jordan, however, because of the need to conserve and reuse scarce water resources. People in small, rural communities in Jordan (about 22% of the population) lack public sewerage services. Inhabitants in such clusters rely mainly on inadequately managed on-site wastewater disposal systems that fail to protect scarce water resources, public health and the environment. Moreover, there is no clear organizational set-up to plan, implement and manage appropriate sanitation methods for small communities in the country.

This research project is aiming at investigating, in close consultation and with active participation of the community, the feasibility of adopting innovative, non-conventional wastewater management policies for marginal-small communities in the country. This will be approached through a coherent framework of activities including integration of various components of social, technical, economical, environmental, institutional and public participation requirements.

In July 2003 the International Development Research Center IDRC approved a request by the Environmental Research Center ERC of the Royal Scientific Society RSS to contribute in financing this research project. A Memorandum of Grant Conditions MGC was signed by IDRC and RSS in July 2003, and both parties mutually agreed that the project execution would start in September 2003.