Egyptian firms to take major role in Jordan’s $5.8bn water carrier project

Egyptian companies will carry out a major share of field operations in the $5.8bn Jordan’s National Water Carrier Project, the largest water infrastructure scheme in the country’s history, MENA reported on April 26, quoting a project official. 

Saddam Khalifat, the project’s director, said Egyptian firms would handle construction work, as well as future operations and maintenance.

The cooperation comes under the shared vision of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II to strengthen economic integration and support sustainable development, particularly in infrastructure and water security, Khalifat said.

A roughly 438-kilometre-long underground conveyance system will move the water from the Red Sea to northern reservoirs. The primary goal of the project is to desalinate seawater from the Gulf of Aqaba in the south and transport it through a massive pipeline to the capital, Amman, and other northern governorates. The project aims to increase the availability of municipal water from just one day a week to three days a week across the country

The project aims to desalinate 300m cubic metres of seawater annually and pump the water to an elevation of up to 1,100 metres above sea level. Once completed, the project is expected to transform the water supply in Jordan by covering around 40% of Jordan’s drinking water needs.

Egypt has stepped up cooperation with regional partners in water resource management, desalination and wastewater treatment, as countries across the region face growing water challenges.

Egypt has also developed advanced flood and rainfall forecasting centres in several African countries, while signing cooperation agreements with Iraq on canal lining and modern irrigation, and with Libya on deep groundwater wells and seawater desalination technologies for coastal cities, according to MENA.