Ammon News - The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has initiated a comprehensive water infrastructure modernization program in the northern region of the Kingdom with the commencement of the Bani Kenana Water Systems Enhancement Project.

The initiative, valued at approximately $60 million and financed through the European Investment Bank (EIB), aims to revolutionize water delivery efficiency across this critical district in Irbid Governorate.

According to a ministerial communiqué issued Wednesday, the strategic intervention will transform water delivery to 25 rural communities through four integrated implementation phases that will transition the region from pressure-dependent to gravity-fed distribution systems, substantially reducing operational costs and energy consumption.

"This flagship project represents a cornerstone implementation within our National Water Strategy 2023-2040," a ministry spokesperson noted.

"It advances our systematic infrastructure recapitalization program targeting comprehensive network rehabilitation by 2025 to optimize transmission efficiency, mitigate non-revenue water losses, and establish distributed energy self-sufficiency across our operations."

Ministry officials emphasized that the project emerged following extensive diplomatic engagement between Jordanian authorities and European Union counterparts, securing vital financing for this high-impact infrastructure initiative.

The program holds particular strategic importance for northern regions experiencing demographic pressure from Syrian refugee populations and will deploy cutting-edge distribution technologies that align with international best practices.

The infrastructure modernization will revolutionize service delivery throughout the district, with exemptions for Mukhaiba Al-Tahta, Mukhaiba Al-Foga, Kafr Jayez, and Al-Barz communities.

Upon completion, 93 percent of district residents will benefit from gravity-driven water delivery, representing a transformative improvement in distribution network efficiency while enabling the decommissioning of aging infrastructure components that currently contribute to system losses.

The project's engineering scope encompasses a comprehensive network reconfiguration including a 700mm diameter primary transmission conduit extending 15 kilometers from Zabda Reservoir to Bani Kenana Reservoir, complemented by 70 kilometers of distribution mains ranging from 150-600mm diameter.

The modernization further incorporates 545 kilometers of secondary distribution infrastructure utilizing ductile iron and polyethylene materials in diameters ranging from 50-300mm.
Key components include construction of a 16,000 cubic meter capacity water reservoir complex and development of a supplementary 1,000 cubic meter capacity Habras reservoir facility.

The initiative additionally features installation of state-of-the-art pumping infrastructure to service outlying communities including Sama, Kafr Jayez, and Harima, alongside dedicated operations and security installations.

The technological integration includes residential connection standardization, electromagnetic flow metering, and implementation of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems for network optimization.
Ministry officials confirmed execution of the first implementation phase contract (Package A) valued at $15.5 million with a 24-month delivery timeline.

This initial deployment includes construction of core infrastructure elements including the Bani Kenana reservoir complex, primary transmission infrastructure, pumping facilities, and operational infrastructure necessary to support subsequent implementation phases. Petra