As part of its workplan for 2024, the EU funded “Water and Environment Support (WES) in the ENI Neighbourhood South Region” project organized a Study Tour of Moroccan experts to Jordan in order to support the Moroccan Ministry of Equipment and Water in its ongoing efforts towards improving Water Demand Management (WDM). The Study Tour took place between on 4-6 of June 2024, focusing on aspects of WDM, all along the water supply chain and on conservation of water resources, including the reuse of treated wastewater.
This Study Tour gathered Moroccan representatives from the Directorate of Water Research and Planning of Water and the Permanent Control Service from the headquarters of the Delegating Authority of Rabat in Morocco, as well as from the Hydraulic Basins Agencies of Bouregreg and Chaouia in Benslimane, and the Regional Directorate of Equipment and Transport and Logistics and Water (DRETL) from Oriental to Oujda.
The participants visited the Aqaba Water Company (AWC), the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Aqaba and in Al Samra and the Jordan Chamber of Industry. In between the visits, presentations on the related issues were made by the Jordanian experts and fellow executives of public institutions/authorities that have been involved in the implementation of WDM and water conservation (WC) programs in Jordan.
Indeed, the group of Moroccan experts learned valuable lessons and practices from their Jordanian counterparts on Water Conservation (WC), Water Demand Management (WDM), both upstream of the water meters in the distribution network (through demonstration of IT-supported non-revenue water management) and downstream of the water meters in the residential and touristic sector, as well as on the reuse of adequately treated wastewater. They were informed on:
the know-how of tackling key-issues, effective and relevant tools and techniques to manage WDM in Morocco; institutional, financial and regulatory measures that have been adopted in Jordan in favour of promoting and implementing WDM/WC (including Treated Wastewater Reuse from energy efficient wastewater treatment plants and recycling of industrial water); concrete examples of utilizing alternative water resources focusing on the reuse of treated waste water.
By the end of this WES activity, it was clear that the team of WES water experts would contribute to the development of policies and reforms regarding WDM in Morocco, promoted the technical and regulatory and institutional aspects linked to Water Conservation and WDM and reinforced the capacities of the related stakeholders.
