A five-year, $275 million project to rehabilitate Zarqa governorate’s water and wastewater network has been completed.

The project was carried out by the Millennium Challenge Account-Jordan (MCA), a government-owned company set up in 2010 and funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a bilateral US foreign aid agency.

The project centered on the rehabilitation of Zarqa’s water and wastewater networks, including 1,100 km of piping, the expansion of As-Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the improvement of the plumbing for thousands of homes. “All of the project’s components were carried out successfully,” MCA-Jordan Executive Officer Kamal Zoubi said.

He added that while most of the governorate’s wastewater system was rehabilitated, 60 percent of its water network was upgraded under the project. The remaining 40 percent could be upgraded at a later stage once the financing is secured.

In September, the company celebrated the completion of its Water Smart Homes project, under which more than 60,000 Zarqa residents attended awareness sessions on improving their homes water systems. It also saw the upgrading of water systems in 4,000 underprivileged homes, including changing dilapidated water tanks, water pipes, and taps, among others. Also under the project, 30 women from the local community were trained to become professional plumbers.