Waste Water Reuse for Agriculture Pilot Project at the Jordan University of Science and Technology

Because of water scarcity in Jordan, marginal water (treated wastewater in particular) use in agriculture is highly required. However, this needs to be done with precautions to avoid harming the valuable agricultural soils and to prevent any consumer health risk.

The Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) has a large campus (11 km²) and has reused water from the university treatment plant for almost 20 years. The campus plant has a design capacity of 2,500 m³/d but is currently operating at about 600 m³/d. The other source of effluent water is located off campus at Wadi Hassan area about 4 Km south of the university campus. The design capacity of this plant is 2,200 m³/d and it has been in operation since September 2001. There are two storage lakes on campus: a 132,000-m³ lined pond and a 110,000-m³ capacity reservoir. These sources of effluent water and the existing infrastructure have encouraged the University to irrigate additional portions of the campus and to support the production of cash crops, field crops and forest trees by reclaimed wastewater. There is also a desire to have local community involvement and to train local farmers in the management and use of reclaimed water.

JUST pilot has been involving researchers and students in the water reuse activities. Local farming communities and other stakeholders have also been exposed through visits and field days to the reuse activities at JUST so that more positive attitudes can be created about reuse. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded water reuse activities at JUST are of great value also for JUST as a university and for the country due to the research and demonstration value of this activity. JUST water reuse pilot continues its activities to demonstrate and document safe reuse of reclaimed water and reaching at a wider social acceptance of this valuable resource for Jordan.

The goal of the pilot project is to evaluate the efficacy and economics of growing new types of crops in the northern area of Jordan utilizing the flow from the existing JUST wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) as well as the Wadi Hassan WWTP. The crops for the pilot study are selected based on their applicability to the climate and soils of JUST, as well as their marketed value.