By Hana Namrouqa

DEAD SEA - The region's first recycling plant for grey water was launched on Thursday in a bid to conserve the precious resource in a country categorised as one of the four water-poorest nations in the world.

The Grey-water Recycling Plant is a pilot project designed to reduce water demand, while at the same time safely dispose of wastewater, Minister of Water and Irrigation Raed Abu Saud said at the launch ceremony.

Also yesterday, Water Ministry Secretary General Maysoun Zu'bi announced government plans for applying grey-water recycling systems in housing units built under a Royal initiative for impoverished people across the country.

Abu Saud said population growth and the expanding industrial and real estate sector place a huge burden on the limited resource, noting that grey-water recycling in domestic and commercial facilities and industries is listed under the 2008-2022 Water for Life Strategy.

"It [recycling] reduces the final wastewater flow as well as the burden on existing infrastructure. We have to include such technologies as an obligatory part of the building codes," Abu Saud said.

The plant, funded by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), is located in the Dead Sea Spa Hotel and can recycle 15,000 litres of water daily collected from showers and bathroom sinks.

"The recycled water will be reused for flushing [toilets] and irrigation. Thus, up to 60 per cent of water consumed for toilet flushing in the hotel can be saved, which will reflect positively on the amount and costs of used freshwater," GTZ Programme Manager Dieter Rothenberger said yesterday.

Highlighting that grey water, which constitutes 60 per cent of domestic wastewater in Jordan, is a big environmental and health concern, Rothenberger underscored the importance of introducing environmental technology to Jordan and convincing people that applying them pays back.

Meanwhile, Michael Hasenbeck, business unit manager at Hansgrohe/Pontos, a German company that built the plant, told The Jordan Times that installing units for recycling grey water approximately costs 100,000 euros. He noted that the water is treated biologically without adding chemicals.

Grey water, also called "sullage", is non-industrial wastewater generated from domestic processes such as dishwashing, laundry and bathing. Concerns over dwindling groundwater reserves and overloaded or costly sewage treatment plants have generated interest in the reuse or recycling of grey water, both domestically and for large-scale irrigation, according to web sources.

However, concerns over potential health and environmental risks mean that many municipalities require intensive treatment systems for legal reuse of grey water, making it expensive for both commercial and residential use.

German Ambassador in Amman Joachim Heidorn said the project is an example of public-private partnership, noting that it introduces modern German technology for saving and recycling water applied in many European countries.

"It targets specially high-volume consumers in urban areas such as hotels, villas, high-rise building and new buildings, where the infrastructure allows to have an internal grey-water recycling unit," Heidorn said.

He added that Jordan is one of the poorest countries in terms of water availability "but one of the richest in tourism", noting that applying technologies for preserving water resources are feasible both economically and environmentally.