A few months ago, there was a series of articles in the Jordan Times concerning water problems in Jordan. I started a post that unfortunately I never finished. Today is Blog Action Day - an event held every 15th October - and this year's topic is water. Today is time for me to finish my post.
Jordan is the 4th most water deprived country in the world. I was actually very surprised to learn that. Obviously I knew it was bad but I didn't think it was that bad. The water distribution per capita in Jordan is 150 cubic metres. The international poverty line is of 1'000 cubic metres per capita. So as you can see we have a huge problem in Jordan.
One of the main sources of Amman's drinking water come from the wells in the south of the capital, and in June there were some serious cases of water theft. People have being pumping 100s of cubic meter per day over the last 6 months. The water is then used to irrigate farms, greenhouses (a greenhouse needs 800 cm/day and the thief in question had 40 of them) and of course filling swimming pools. The water company estimates that 7% of the capital's water is lost due to theft. In the whole of Amman, 700 violations are recorded monthly!
But then there are things I don't understand, and as for many things the Jordanian people need to be educated - well for those who have water because I am sure that in other areas of Amman you don't see what I see everyday: misuse of water. Every morning when I walk with Bibs I see some example of how much people don't care, the water is there no? So why not wash the pavement in front of the buildings? It's so useful isn't it? the sand will only be back in a couple of minutes! or the immaculate green grass, or the really lush gardens with beautiful flowers, even in August when it is 45 degrees outside and the sun is burning, or the burst water pipes you see here or there.
I have always been very careful with the use of water. I come from a "non-bathtub" family haha - my mum got rid of them as soon as we moved into our house in Callas, France. When I was kid, we could go for weeks during the summer without water for most of the hours of the day. Of course today the problems don't exist anymore (the region is now linked up to a water canal), but during the summer it is still forbidden to fill swimming pools or to water gardens. Small things can make a big difference: stop the running water when brushing the teeth/washing hands, keep the water from the sink (when washing vegetables for example) to water the plants, forget the baths obviously and make the shower short. Here is a link for water preservation tips.
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