Anera Launches Ramallah Wastewater Reuse Project
September 13, 2018 | Ramallah, Palestine Anera (American Near East Refugee Aid) recently launched a wastewater reuse project with funding from the Jim Pattison Foundation, the Vitol Foundation, and the Municipality of Ramallah to conserve scarce drinking water in the city of Ramallah. When completed in May 2020, it will protect the water supply by facilitating the reuse of 240,000 cubic meters (63,401,292 gallons) of wastewater annually. The treated wastewater will be suitable for a variety of non-household uses, including in construction and firefighting, and in the irrigation of fruit trees, gardens and parks.
The project will also increase the amount of potable water available for human consumption and domestic use in Ramallah by 300 cubic meters (79,251 gallons) per day, and greatly improve the urban living environment. The project will include a filling station and a distribution network to make the reclaimed water accessible to the three neighborhoods of Al Tireh, Baten Al-Hawa and Jadwal. A facility will be built to further treat the residual sludge from the treatment plant in order to reduce pollution and potentially produce high value fertilizer.
The city of Ramallah, like most of the Palestinian territories, suffers from severe water shortages resulting from drought, population growth and limited access to groundwater resources.
“Utilizing reclaimed wastewater has already helped us to increase irrigation in the rural areas of Jenin,” says Anera’s agriculture program manager in the West Bank, Naser Qadous. “This project in Ramallah will help us to conserve fresh water and make the best use of treated wastewater to expand green spaces in the city.”
Demonstration gardens and parks will be utilized to promote the use of reclaimed water for private gardens, and use of water saving techniques of irrigation. Water filling stations will be constructed to make the reclaimed water accessible for fire trucks, and for construction and irrigation sites that are not connected to the distribution network.
For more information:
Steven Fake
Media Relations Officer
202 266 9719
[email protected]
About Anera
For 50 years, Anera has helped refugees and others hurt by conflicts in the Middle East live with dignity and purpose. Anera, which has no political or religious affiliation, works on the ground with partners in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. We mobilize resources for immediate emergency relief and for sustainable, long-term health, education, and economic development. Our staff serve in their communities, navigating the politics that constrict progress to get help where it’s needed most. That’s how Anera has grown to deliver more than $60 million in programming annually, and it’s how we will keep building better lives until hope finds its way in the Middle East.