Reducing water loss has shifted from an operational goal for Jordan's water sector to an urgent necessity, as limited water resources and rising demand push the country to make use of every available cubic meter, according to a report by Al-Ghad.
اضافة اعلان
The challenge now extends beyond simply cutting loss rates to embedding the practice as a sustainable water management policy, water experts told Al-Ghad.
Water recovered from distribution networks represents a genuine resource that strengthens water security, and every investment in reducing waste increases the value of new water entering the system, particularly desalinated water expected to come online in the coming years.
Experts said each percentage point shaved off water loss translates into significant annual savings, making recovered water a cheaper and more reliable resource than producing new supply. That, they said, places loss reduction at the center of water security policy rather than treating it as a purely technical or operational matter.
With Jordan's National Carrier project approaching implementation, which will bring desalinated water with high production and transport costs into the network, reducing loss has become essential to maximizing the project's economic returns. Experts said reaching the national target of cutting water loss to 25 percent by 2040 will require shifting from achieving reductions to sustaining them, particularly as the remaining losses become harder to eliminate.
"The Largest Untapped Water Source"
Dokhalallah Shatanawi, director of the Water, Energy and Environment Center at the University of Jordan, said water loss represents Jordan's largest untapped water source, since reducing it effectively recovers water without the need to develop new sources.
Shatanawi said a 10.7 percentage point reduction in water loss, according to a formula published by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, equals about 53 million cubic meters of water annually, roughly a tenth of the kingdom's total drinking water supply. He noted that this water required no new wells, dams or external sources to produce.
Shatanawi, a professor of water resources engineering at the university, said the significance lies not just in the size of the reduction but in the fact that it has now been achieved for four consecutive years, which he said points to a consistent methodology that should be maintained. He cautioned, however, that further reductions will be harder to achieve as the easier gains from curbing illegal connections, replacing meters, improving measurement and billing, and managing pressure become exhausted.
Shatanawi called for accurate data that separates technical from administrative loss, broken down by individual water utility, along with published annual targets tied to performance evaluation.
Without a precise breakdown of loss sources, he said, it becomes difficult to determine the right mix of interventions and investment needed to meet the national target.
He urged the next phase to focus on completing the division of networks into separate metering zones, monitoring nighttime flows to detect leaks early, and shifting toward continuous water supply paired with precise pressure management, warning that continuous supply without pressure control could actually increase losses.
Shatanawi linked loss reduction directly to the National Carrier project, noting that 300 million cubic meters of desalinated water entering the network annually, much of it pumped to highland areas, will carry a high cost.
Continued losses, he said, would mean wasting water that has already been desalinated, transported and pumped at significant expense. He described loss reduction not as a program running parallel to the National Carrier, but as a precondition for the project's economic viability and success.
Updating the National Strategy
Eyad al-Dahiyat, former secretary-general of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, said continuing to reduce water loss to acceptable levels is essential to making the most of water from the desalination and National Carrier projects.
He called for turning the lessons learned from past loss-reduction programs into a sustainable institutional methodology and using them to update the National Water Loss Reduction Strategy 2022-2040.
Dahiyat said sub-plans and action packages should be developed for each governorate, since the causes of water loss vary by region, with investment directed toward the highest-consumption governorates, led by Amman, Zarqa, Irbid and Balqa. He called for water distribution companies to implement these plans and link them to clear performance indicators.
Dahiyat said operational budgets need to be secured and preventive maintenance policies applied to networks, particularly secondary lines and household connections, alongside improving the quality of materials used to withstand the high pressure caused by intermittent water supply patterns. He said expanding the use of gravity-fed supply through elevated water tanks in distribution areas could help improve pressure management and reduce loss.
Dahiyat called for the updated strategy to include a dedicated component on smart systems and networks, covering automated operations, network monitoring, and the use of artificial intelligence applications to detect leaks and illegal connections and speed up repairs, alongside expanding smart meters linked to analysis and diagnostic systems.
Aging Infrastructure Needs Upgrades
Maysoon al-Zoubi, a Jordanian water diplomacy expert, said reducing leaks, curbing illegal connections and improving meter accuracy allow the country to make better use of water already produced, rather than relying solely on developing new sources. That, she said, places loss reduction at the core of water security policy alongside major water infrastructure projects.
Zoubi said the approach also delivers economic benefits by lowering production, pumping and transport costs and improving spending efficiency across the sector. She said the importance of recent progress lies in its continuity, since addressing water loss is a long-term process requiring ongoing network maintenance, expanded use of technology and smart meters, stricter oversight, and better pressure and distribution management.
Reaching the national target of 25 percent water loss by 2040, Zoubi said, will require directing investment toward the highest-loss areas based on accurate data, accelerating upgrades to aging networks, and improving pressure and flow management along with operational and maintenance efficiency.
She stressed the importance of expanding smart meters and digital monitoring and control systems to detect leaks and sources of waste early, alongside improving measurement and billing processes, curbing illegal water use, and tying funding and spending to clear, measurable outcomes.
Source: Al-Ghad, reporting by Eman al-Fares
