Water supply and sanitation in Lebanon
Encyclopedia
| Lebanon Lebanon Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among... : Water and Sanitation |
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| Data | ||
| Access to an improved water source Improved water source According to the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation by the World Health Organization and UNICEF the following are considered as "improved" water sources:* household connections* public standpipes* boreholes* protected dug wells... |
100%; 80% access to piped water supply (2008) | |
| Sanitation coverage (broad definition) | no data available | |
| Continuity of supply | Average of 6 hours per day in summer and 9 hours per day in winter with wide disparities between regions (2008) | |
| Average urban water use (liter/capita/day) | 150 (estimated) | |
| Average urban water and sewer tariff (US$/m3) | US$157 per year flat fee, corresponding to US$0.43/m3 (Beirut in 2008) | |
| Share of household metering | 16% in Beirut-Mount Lebanon (2010); zero in some other areas | |
| Share of collected wastewater treated | Low | |
| Non-revenue water | about 40% | |
| Annual investment in water supply and sanitation | US$129m (late 90s and early 2000s) | |
| Share of self-financing by utilities | low | |
| Share of tax-financing | no data available | |
| Share of external financing | 73% for water, 56% for wastewater (Council for Development and Reconstruction only) | |
| Institutions | ||
| Decentralization to municipalities | No | |
| National water and sanitation company | No | |
| Water and sanitation regulator | No | |
| Responsibility for policy setting | Ministry of Energy and Water | |
| Sector law | Water Law 221/2000 | |
| Number of service providers | 4 Regional Water Establishments | |
Water supply and sanitation in Lebanon is characterized by a number of achievements and challenges. The achievements include the reconstruction of infrastructure after the 1975–90 Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
and the 2006 war with Israel, as well as the reform of the water and sanitation sector through a water law passed in 2000. The law crated four Regional Water Establishments to consolidate numerous smaller utilities.
The challenges include poor service quality, in particular intermittent water supply that persists despite the availability of relatively abundant water resources; the slow implementation of the water reform; the separation of responsibilities between various entities such as the Council for Development and Reconstruction, which are de facto in charge of investment, and the Regional Water Establishments, which are in charge of operation and maintenance; limited institutional capacity in the public sector, and in particular the Regional Water Establishments; politicization of decision-making; the absence of an autonomous regulatory agency; poor information about water resources, sector performance and assets; a very low share of metering and the absence of volumetric water tariffs; a high level of water distribution losses; limited cost recovery for water supply; and no cost recovery for sewerage and wastewater treatment. These challenges persist more than two decades after the end of the Civil War.
The Lebanese water and sanitation sector has received and continues to receive substantial foreign aid in the form of grants and soft loans from a dozen Western and Arab donors.
Access
According to UN estimates that are not based on any household survey access to an improved water sourceImproved water source
According to the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation by the World Health Organization and UNICEF the following are considered as "improved" water sources:* household connections* public standpipes* boreholes* protected dug wells...
in Lebanon is universal. The UN figures on water access may not give an accurate picture of the real situation: A representative survey carried out by the World Bank in 2008 estimated that the average connection rate to the public water network was 80%, varying from 96% in Beirut to 55% in the North. These figures are similar to those that came out of a 2004 Household Living Conditions Survey carried out by the Lebanese Central Administration of Statistics. Even considering that improved water sources include protected wells and springs in addition to piped water connections, it is unlikely that water access in Lebanon is universal. For example, many urban households that are not connected to the network rely on water bought from tanker trucks.
The UN statistics show no data on access to sanitation in Lebanon. The World Bank quotes estimates by the Council for Development and Reconstruction showing a 58% share of connection to sewers in 2002. Wastewater collection was highest in Beirut-Mount Lebanon (74%) and lowest in the South (35%). The remaining buildings either use cesspools and septic tanks or simply release raw sewage directly into the environment. A census of Buildings and Establishments in 1996–97 had estimated that only about 37% of the buildings in Lebanon were connected to a sewer network at that time, indicating that the share increased substantially between 1997 and 2002.
Service quality
The quality of water service provision is poor. There is not a single village or city in Lebanon that receives an uninterrupted residential supply of water. Especially in summer, water shortages are common. For example, in Nabatieh Governorate water reached customers only three times a week in 2007. In Greater Beirut, water supply drops to 3 hours per day during the summer. According to the above-mentioned 2008 survey, the average Lebanese household received 6 hours per day in summer and 9 hours in winter. Only one quarter of Lebanese households received water every day. The continuity of supply was best in the North where 59% said they received water every day in 2008. It was worst in Beirut where this share was only 10%. Poor water quality and intermittent supply impose high costs on households to cope with these deficiencies. Buying water from trucks and the purchase of bottled water are common. Water is also commonly stored in roof tanks, which imposes both an additional cost and jeopardizes water quality. Many households also use pumps to make sure that water reaches the upper floors of houses, which imposes more costs on households. Low pressure and intermittent water supply are caused, among others, by intermittent electricity supply.According to the World Bank, the Lebanese water supply and sanitation sector has not achieved service provision in line with the country’s level of economic development. The opportunity cost
Opportunity cost
Opportunity cost is the cost of any activity measured in terms of the value of the best alternative that is not chosen . It is the sacrifice related to the second best choice available to someone, or group, who has picked among several mutually exclusive choices. The opportunity cost is also the...
s of inadequate public water supply provision amount to 1.3% of GDP every year. The environmental degradation caused by the discharge of untreated wastewater is estimated to cost an additional 1% of GDP every year.
However, the failure to provide a continuous water supply does not appear to be a major bottleneck for the Lebanese, where water storage tanks are in common use. What matters is the water quality, which is often insuffient, and that households have enough water to keep the tanks supplied, which is not always the case.
Water resources and water use
Water resource availability
Because of limited and contradictory data, it is difficult to accurately assess water resources availability in Lebanon. While Lebanon is water-rich compared to Jordan, Israel or the Damascus region in Syria, the country's per capita renewable water resources are below the threshold of water poverty set at 1,000 cubic meter per capita and year. Only part of the floodwater in rivers can be captured economically in dams, and some groundwater flows unused to the sea. Furthermore 0.51 billion cubic meter of water flow to Syria and 0.16 to Israel. After substraction of these amounts 2.6 billion cubic meter of water are available in an average year, or about 600 cubic meter per capita. It is not clear if water from springs is counted as part of groundwater or surface water in the above estimate. There are over 2,000 springs with a flow of 1.15 billion cubic meter, sustaining a perennial flow for 17 of the total of 40 major streams in the country. Springs and groundwater are today by far the main sources for drinking water supply in Lebanon. For example, the city of SidonSidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
has an abundance of natural wells supplying three times more water than the current needs of the city.
Litani River
The Litani River is an important water resource in southern Lebanon. The river rises in the fertile Beqaa Valley valley, west of Baalbek, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre. Exceeding 140 km in length, the Litani River is the longest river in Lebanon and provides an average...
(average annual flow of 0.79 million cubic meter), the Ibrahim River (0.51), the Awali River
Awali (river)
The Awali is a perennial river flowing in Southern Lebanon. It is long, originating from the Barouk mountain at a height of and the Niha mountain. The Awali is supplemented by two tributaries, the Barouk and Aaray rivers. The Awali is also known as the Bisri river in its upper section; it flows...
and the Damour River (both 0.3). A large share of the Litani River is diverted through the Markaba tunnel for hydropower generation to the Awali River. Since the upper watershed of the Litani River is polluted and the Awali River is due to be tapped as a source of drinking water supply for Beirut, this water transfer has implications beyond its intended use for hydropower generation.
Transboundary rivers
Two important rivers are shared with Syria and one with Israel. The Orontes RiverOrontes River
The Orontes or ‘Āṣī is a river of Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.It was anciently the chief river of the Levant, also called Draco, Typhon and Axius...
(0.48) that rises in Lebanon is shared with Syria. A 1994 agreement stipulates that Lebanon receives 80 million cubic meters of water per year "if the river flow inside Lebanon is 400 million cubic meters per year or more". This means that the risk of drought is borne by Lebanon. No new wells were allowed to be drilled in the Lebanese portion of the Orontes basin since the agreement has been signed. The El Kebir River (average flow of 0.19 million cubic meter per year) is also shared with Syria, the river itself forming part of the border between the two countries. The Hasbani River
Hasbani River
The Hasbani River , also known as Snir Stream within Israel, is a tributary of the Jordan river.The Hasbani River derives most of its discharge from two springs in Lebanon, the Wazzani and the Haqzbieh, the latter being a group of springs on the uppermost Hasbani...
, a tributary of the Jordan River, also rises in Lebanon and is shared with Israel. Surface water flow into northern Israel from the Hasbani/Wazani complex is estimated at 160 million m3/year. There is no agreement about the sharing of the Jordan River between the two countries. When Lebanon diverted part of the Hasbani to supply a village in 2002, Israel stated that this could lead to war.
Pollution
Water use
Data on water use in Lebanon are contradictory. In 2005, the FAOFão
Fão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
estimated water withdrawal was at 1.31 billion m3 or about 63% of economically exploitable water resources. Of this almost 60% was for agricultural purposes, 29% for municipal use and 11% for industry. The FAO does not provide the sources for these figures. Municipal use of 0.38 billion m3 would correspond to about 250 liter per capita per day based on these figures. An earlier estimate of the Ministry of Environment estimated water use at 1.29 billion m3 in 1994, including only 0.21 billion m3 for municipal use. This figure corresponds to 140 liter per capita per day, which fits well with a World Bank estimate of 150 liter per capita per day for municipal water use, ranging from 120 liter in Beirut-Mount Lebanon to 200 liter in the North.
Of households connected to the public water system, only 53% drink it. The share is lowest in Nabatieh (27%) and highest in the Bekaa (77%). The most frequently cited reasons for not drinking public water are perception of safety relating to health and hygiene, and poor taste.
Example: Greater Beirut water supply
Jeita
Jeita is a Lebanese town located in the Keserwan District in the Mount Lebanon Governorate. The town is about north of Beirut. It is famous for the Jeita Grotto which is a popular tourist attraction, as well as the Nahr al-Kalb, a river that runs from a spring near the grotto emptying into the...
springs (50 million m3/year) as well as well fields in the Damour
Damour
Damour is a Lebanese Christian town that is 24 kilometres south of Beirut. The name of the town is derived from the name of the Phoenician god Damoros who symbolized immortality ....
region (30 million m3/year). The Jeita spring are the source of drinking water for about 1.5 million Lebanese. Water is treated in the Dbaiye water treatment plant north of the city with a capacity of 430,000m3/day (157 million m3/year). Besides the public network, around 1,000 mostly private wells are scattered in the area of Beirut. Their depth varies between 50 and 300m and their average individual discharge is 35 liters/second. Total water supply from these wells could be higher than through the public water supply, depending on how many hours the pumps run. Overpumping from wells in the Beirut area has led to seawater intrusion into aquifers.
The government plans to tap the Awali River to the Southeast of Beirut to provide the growing capital with 90 million m3/year of additional water, more than double the current resources. The project involves the construction of a dam at Bisri, a 3km tunnel from the river to a new water treatment plant at Ouardaniye, and a second 22km tunnel to Khalde
Khalde
Khalde is a coastal town south of Beirut, Lebanon. It is famous as a touristic destination in the summer especially for its various beach resorts. Excavations, now covered over, show that the site has been occupied since at least the beginning of the first millennium BC. A few kilometers south of...
south of Beirut, from where water will be transported through two twin pipelines, one going North to the center of Beirut and the second northeast to Baabda
Baabda
Baabda is the capital city of Baabda District as well as the capital of Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon....
. The Islamic Development Bank
Islamic Development Bank
The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development financing institution located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was founded by the first conference of Finance Ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference , convened 23 Dhu'l Qa'dah 1393 AH.The bank officially began its activities on...
has agreed to finance the construction of Bisri dam in 2008, while the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
has approved a US$200m loan in December 2010 to partly finance the transmission tunnels and pipelines. Lebanese critics of the project argue that the Awali River and especially the Litani River, from which water is diverted to the Awali River upstream of the planned intake, are highly polluted. They also say that less expensive alternatives, such as the less polluted Damour River that is also closer to Beirut, were not considered by the government and the World Bank.
Modern history
The Lebanese infrastructure has been badly scarred by the 1975–90 Civil WarLebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
. After the war the water and sanitation infrastructure was rebuilt with substantial external financial assistance. In South Lebanon, which remained under Israeli occupation until 2000, the infrastructure was gradually rebuilt as the Israeli army withdrew. Compared to the substantial investment in infrastructure, little effort was made at building the capacity of sector institutions and at establishing policies that favor the sustainability and improve the quality of services provided. Also, wastewater treatment was neglected in terms of investments compared to water supply and sewerage. Untreated wastewater was thus discharged to the sea and to rivers. No efforts were made to conserve water. Still today, Lebanon is one of the few countries in the Middle East that has almost no water meters.
Institutional weaknesses and lack of sustainability
External financing institutions were concerned with the insufficient capacity to operate and maintain the infrastructure they were financing in Lebanon. Until 2000 there were 21 water authorities in Lebanon who were financially and technically weak. The limited sewer networks, if they existed at all, were managed by the respective municipalities, which had often even less technical and financial capacity than the water authorities. In the absence of a sanitation tariff, municipalities lacked the financial resources to operate and maintain sanitation infrastructure. The experience with wastewater treatment plants is illustrative of the difficulties encountered. For example, the operating costs for the first wastewater treatment plant in Lebanon, the Al-Ghadir plant in Beirut completed in 1997, still have to be subsidized by the government because the municipal governments in the service area (the Beirut and Baabda districts) lack the resources to do so. Furthermore, incomplete infrastructure considerably reduces the development impact of the plant. Because the construction of sewers was delayed, most of the sewage of Southern Beirut still flowed into the Mediterranean without any treatment via both the Al Ghadir River and sea outlets. The Al Ghadir plant provides only preliminary treatment, followed by discharge through a 2.6km marine outfallMarine outfall
A marine outfall is a pipeline or tunnel that discharges municipal or industrial wastewater, stormwater, combined sewer overflows, cooling water, or brine effluents from water desalination plants to the sea. Usually they discharge under the sea's surface...
. The second wastewater treatment plant built in Lebanon, intended for the city of Baalbek and completed in 2001, could not be put into operation, because both the sewer system and the outfall main were not completed. Wastewater treatment plants in Tripoli and Sidon were inaugurated in 2009 and 2010 respectively, both long after they were due to be completed.
Sector reform
At the national level, policy-making was fragmented between the Ministry of Energy and Water in charge of drinking water supply and the Ministry of Interior in charge of sanitation, as well as other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Environment. The donors thus pressed for a sector reform that would create commercially oriented regional water and sanitation companies that would achieve economies of scale. In 2000 a new water law was passed that created four Regional Water Establishments. However, the transfer of actual responsibilities to them remained slow and the water authorities continued to remain in charge of operating infrastructure. The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) also remained in charge of procuring works and consulting contracts, including service contracts to operate infrastructure despite the responsibilities bestowed on the new Establishments under the Water Law.According to a 2010 World Bank ten years after the Water Law has been passed it "has not been fully enforced and implemented, thus creating institutional uncertainty over sector responsibilities". Furthermore, "the four RWEs severely lack managerial and financial autonomy and are impeded by limited inter-agency coordination and weak central government oversight. They have not been able to effectively operate and maintain water supply networks, fully engage with the private sector, recover costs and hire qualified staff".
Private sector participation
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Suez Environnement
Suez Environnement S.A. is a French-based utility company which operates largely in the water treatment and waste management sectors. Formerly an operating division of Suez, the company was spun out as a stand-alone entity as part of the merger to form GDF Suez on 22 July 2008. GDF Suez remains...
, after a competitive bidding process. The cost of 20 million Euro was financed by the French Development Agency
French Development Agency
French Development Agency is the French international development agency.The Agence Française de Développement is a public institution providing development financing...
. The contract included the operation, maintenance, and installation of equipment, the organization of the billing system and collection of water tariffs, the management of human and financial resources, and the supervision of the construction of a tertiary water supply network and the expansion of a water treatment plant. The private company increased the billing efficiency from 30% to 60%, reduced water rationing, mapped the network, updated the customer inventory, computerized the accounting system and trained staff. Non-revenue water
Non-revenue water
Non revenue water is water that has been produced and is “lost” before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses or apparent losses . High levels of NRW are detrimental to the financial viability of water utilities, as well to the quality of water itself...
was reduced from 65% to 45% and the 10-year long water rationing in the areas of Qalamoun, Qobbe and Abi Samra was eliminated, making Tripoli the only city in Lebanon that receives water 24 hours per day. Water quality and the customer service were also improved. However, cost recovery was not achieved despite an increase in tariffs because bill collection efficiency remained low. The company was unable to introduce metering, although 40,000 meters were acquired. The contract faced a number of challenges: According to a study by the French Institute for Public-Private Partnerships, the supervisory committee was composed of former employees of the public water company who were not convinced of the usefulness of private sector participation. Despite its achievements, the management contract ended in 2007 without being extended.
Impact of 2006 War
Water infrastructure, especially in the South, was further damaged during the Israeli-Lebanese War of 2006. Israeli armed forces "destroyed water tanks, springs and pipelines, leaving most of southern Lebanon totally cut off from mains water supply in the immediate aftermath of the war", according to UN sources. The infrastructure was rebuilt after the war, partly by Hizbollah's construction company Jihad al-Bina. Foreign donors also played an important role in reconstruction, including UNICEF and Technisches HilfswerkTechnisches Hilfswerk
The Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk is a civil protection organisation controlled by the German federal government...
from Germany.
Responsibility for water supply and sanitation
Among the key public stakeholders in the Lebanese water and sanitation sector are the Ministry of Water and Energy, which is in charge of policy and regulation; the Ministry of Finance, which provides funding and coordinates external cooperation; the Ministry of Environment; the Council for Development and Reconstruction, which is in charge of most investments in the sector; and four Regional Water Establishments, which are in charge of service provision.Policy and regulation: The Ministry of Water and Energy
Within the Lebanese government the Ministry of Water and Energy is in charge of developing and implementing policies related to water supply and sanitation. As of 2010, there was no specific policy or strategy document outlining the government’s policy in the sector. The Ministry seems to focus on energy and to pay less attention to water, not to speak of sanitation.The legal framework consists of the Water Law 221/2000 that reorganized the sector into four Regional Water Establishments. The law was amended twice shortly after it was passed: Law 241/2000 reduced the number of Regional Water Establishments from 5 to 4; and Law 337/2001 included sanitation in the responsibilities of the Regional Water Establishments and of the Ministry of Water and Energy. In October 2005 some bylaws for the aforementioned laws were published.
Service provision: The four Regional Water Establishments
Provision of drinking water supply and sanitation is the responsibility of the four Regional Water Establishments that were created by the 2000 Water Law:- Water of Beirut and Mount Lebanon – Head office in Beirut.
- Water of North Lebanon – Head office in Tripoli.
- Water of Bekaa – Head Office in Zahle.
- Water of South Lebanon – Head office in Sidon (Saida).
The Board members of the water companies are nominated by the Cabinet upon the proposition of the Minister of Energy and Water. Municipalities have no say in the nomination of Board members. There have been only limited attempts to involve the private sector in operating water and sewer systems. A management contract for the city of Tripoli with a French firm has not been renewed after it expired (see history section).
The Council for Development and Reconstruction and other national agencies
The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) plays a major role in the sector, because it is responsible for the planning and construction of much of the public water investmetns and all wastewater investments in the country. It is also the implementing agency for most investment programs financed by external agencies. In addition, the Council of the South and the Central Fund for the Displaced have financed almost half of all investments in water supply in Lebanon during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Council for the South, nominally under the Primer Minister's Office, is controlled by the mostly Shiite Amal MovementAmal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...
of Nabih Berri
Nabih Berri
Nabih Berri is the Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon. He heads the mostly Shi'a Amal Movement.-Biography:He was born in Bo, Sierra Leone to Lebanese parents. He went to school in Tebnine and Ain Ebel in southern Lebanon and later studied at the Makassed and the Ecole de la Sagesse in Beirut...
, the speaker of Lebanon's Parliament since 1992.
Civil society
A number of foreign and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are active in the Lebanese water and sanitation sector. For example, NGOs such as the YMCAYMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, the Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a global aid agency engaged in transitional environments that have experienced some sort of shock: natural disaster, economic collapse, or conflict. People working for it move as quickly as possible from bringing in food and supplies to enabling people to rebuild their economy with...
, CHF International
CHF International
CHF International is an international development and humanitarian aid organization that operates in approximately thirty countries per year. The non-profit organization was founded in 1952 as the Cooperative Housing Foundation and provided affordable housing for low-income families in rural and...
and the Pontifical Mission built 13 small wastewater treatment plants throughout the country during the 1990s with funding from USAID.
Tariffs
Tariffs are set at different levels for the each of the four regional water establishments. Within each service area tariffs are the same, although costs differ significantly from small towns that receive water by gravity from springs without treatment to cities that receive water that needs to be pumped and treated. The following table shows residential water tariffs for the four regional utilities per year and per connection for 1m3/day, excluding VATVat
Vat or VAT may refer to:* A type of container such as a barrel, storage tank, or tub, often constructed of welded sheet stainless steel, and used for holding, storing, and processing liquids such as milk, wine, and beer...
.
| Annual water tariff in 2008 | Beirut -Mount Lebanon | North | Bekaa | South |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lebanese Pound | 235,000 | 210,000 | 160,000 | 200,000 |
| USD | 159 | 108 | 108 | 135 |
| USD/m3 equivalent assuming a consumption of 100 liter/capita/day and 4.5 persons per household |
0.97 | 0.86 | 0.66 | 0.82 |
The level of consumption is limited to 1m3 per day by a gauge installed on all resiential connections. However, actual consumption is typically lower because of intermittent supply and low water pressure. The price of water per cubic meter obviously depends on the level of consumption, which varies and is not well known. Assuming an average-size household with 4.5 members that receives 100 liter per capita per day, the price of water is almost US$1/m3 in Beirut and US$0.66/m3 in the Bekaa. Tariffs in Lebanon thus are higher than in in Jordan
Water supply and sanitation in Jordan
Water supply and sanitation in Jordan is characterized by severe water scarcity, which has been exacerbated by forced immigration as a result of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Six-Day War in 1967, the Gulf War of 1990 and the Iraq War of 2003. Jordan is considered as one of the ten most water...
(US$0.65/m3 including sanitation) and much higher than in Syria
Water supply and sanitation in Syria
Syria is a semiarid country with scarce water resources. The largest water consuming sector in Syria is agriculture. The domestic water use stand only at about 9% of total water use....
or in Egypt
Water supply and sanitation in Egypt
Water supply and sanitation in Egypt is characterized by both achievements and challenges. Among the achievements are an increase of piped water supply between 1990 and 2006 from 89% to 99% in urban areas and from 39% to 82% in rural areas despite rapid population growth; the elimination of open...
(US$0.05/m3).
The water bill has to be paid in full in advance for an entire year, which imposes a heavy burden on the poor. A household in the poorest quintile connected to the network paid an average of LBP 421,000 for water in 2008, corresponding to 3.7% of its income. More than half of these expenditures are for alternative water sources such as bottled water or water from trucks.
Cost recovery
Cost recovery varies between utilities. The collection rate in Beirut-Mount Lebanon has been consistent at almost 90%, so that the utility had accumulated over US$170 million as cash surplus in 2010. In the three other Regional Water Establishments tariffs and especially collection rates are lower, so that not even operating costs are recovered. The Government often steps in to pay for operating expenses in addition to financing investments in water infrastructure. Cost recovery is lowest for the Bekaa water company. According to a World Bank report, "there appears to be an informal understanding between water companies and households: many households don’t receive their water allotment, and the water companies often don’t pressure households to pay their bills." Given the current conditions and alternatives, households have stated in surveys that they are reluctant to pay more for better public service. Even where meters have been installed, there is no volumetric tariff. Flat fees are charged regardless of the existence of the meters. There thus is no financial incentive to save water. There is also no wastewater tariff.Investment and financing
Public investment for water and wastewater sector amounted to 0.4 percent of GDP in the late 90s and early 2000s. This includes US$97m for water supply and US$32m for sanitation every year. Investments are to a large extent financed by external grants and loans. For example, 73% of CDR-executed investments in the water sector were financed by external donors and 56% of its wastewater investments.Efficiency
The level of non-revenue water is estimated at about 40%, which is high by international standards, but similar to the levels in Syria, Jordan and Turkey. Since there is little metering, it is difficult to estimate the level of non-revenue water. The share of metered connections was estimated at 16% in the Beirut-Mount Lebanon governorates in 2010, and was lower in other governorates. Most industrial and commercial water users were metered, while few residential users are metered.Unlike in many developing countries, water utilities in Lebanon are not overstaffed, but understaffed. This is due to a hiring freeze imposed by the government. The number of staff has actually declined during the first decade of the 21st century, reaching an average of less than 2 staff per 1000 connections, with the lowest level being achieved in Beirut-Mount Lebanon with only 1.2 staff per 1000 connections. While in a developed country this could be seen as an indicator of efficiency, in Lebanon it simply reflects a lack of staff leading to the inability to perforam basic utility functions adequately.
External cooperation
Many external partners have supported and continue to support the Lebanese water and sanitation sector with financial and technical assistance. These include the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the European Investment Bank (EIB), France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United States and the World Bank. The donors in the water and sanitation sector tend to focus on particular regions of Lebanon: The Arab Fund focuses on the South and Beirut, The EIB on Mount Lebanon and the North, France on the North and the South, Germany on Beirut and Mount Lebanon, Japan on Mount Lebanon and the South, and the U.S. on the South. The World Bank is one of the few donors active in the Bekaa, in addition to Beirut. Most external financial assistance is in the form of loans, while technical assistance is typically in the form of grants. In the aftermath of the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese war the country received substantial additional financial assistance, including grants from countries and agencies that normally provide only loans for infrastructure development in Lebanon, such as Germany and the World Bank. Most external assistance is channeled through the government, except for U.S. assistance, which is provide directly to consulting firms working in cooperation with the government or NGOs. The United Nations also plays an important role in the Lebanese water sector, particularly through UNICEF and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).Donor coordination in Lebanon is the responsibility of a donor coordination unit in the Ministry of Finance, which itself is supported by UNDP. In many countries where multiple donors provide aid to the water and sanitation sector there is some form of a water-specific donor coordination mechanism. This does not seem to be the case in Lebanon.
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development
The Arab Fund for Economic and Social DevelopmentArab Fund for Economic and Social Development
The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development is a Kuwait-based, pan-Arab development finance institution. All member-states of the Arab League are members of the AFESD. As of 2003, it held around USD 7.3 billion in assets....
financed a water project in Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
and Sour (Kuwaiti Dinar 10m approved in 1996), Beirut (Kuwaiti Dinar 17m approved in 2002) and for water and wastewater in various other areas of Lebanon (Kuwaiti Dinar 25m in 2006).
European Union and European Investment Bank
The European Union supported a national water dialogue on Integrated Water Resources ManagementIntegrated Water Resources Management
Integrated Water Resources Management has been defined by the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership as "a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land...
as part of the Mediterranean component of the EU Water Initiative. The dialogue, which included NGOs and the private sector in addition to government representatives and donors, was kicked off by a meeting in November 2005. Its numerous objectives included to "identify insufficiencies and bottlenecks in key prerequisites posed by donors for national investments on the water sector", the "establishment of a permanent platform for cooperation between key involved partners at the national level including donor agencies" and the endorsement of a "national roadmap". A second "consultation seminar" in April 2009 did not mention any more the objectives of the 2005 seminar, but instead offered numerous recommendations for the future, such as "to plan together the follow-up steps that can constribute to an Integrated Water Resources Management Resources Management process in the country".
The European Investment Bank
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions...
financed a wastewater treatment plant in Tripoli and water treatment facilities in the touristic Keserwan District
Keserwan District
Keserwan is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
.
France
The French Development Agency (AFD) supports numerous water projets in Lebanon. Under a 2m Euro loan the water distribution network in the Southern town of JezzineJezzine
Jezzine is a town in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests, and at an average altitude of 950 m , it is the main summer resort and tourist destination of South Lebanon...
was rehabilitated after the retreat of the Israeli army in 1999. Another 12m Euro loan was approved in 2001 to build an "emergency" bulk water supply line and to rehabilitate distribution networks in the Southern towns of Nabah El Tasseh and Jabal Amel
Jabal Amel
Jabal Amel or Amil is a mountainous region of Southern Lebanon.The region is named after the Banu 'Amilah, a Yemenite tribe who, along with the kindred tribes of Hamadan, Lakhm, and Judham, settled in Syria, Palestine, parts of Jordan, and Lebanon. The area was known in ancient times as Jabal...
. In 2007 AFD approved a small grant to rehabilitate the water network of the Southern town of Bkassine with co-financing provided by the French city Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
.
In Tripoli a 20m Euro project supported the extension of a water treatment plant and the strengthening of the distribution network since 2001, supporting the public-private partnership with the French company Ondeo beginning initiated subsequently. A 30m Euro sanitation loan approved in 2004 allowed the construction of sewers in Tripoli.
Germany
Germany has committed funds to improve sanitation in localities close to the Jeita springs to reduce bacteriological pollution of this important spring that is the main water source of Beirut and other localities. It also supported sanitation in Beirut and a reconstruction project in the South It also provides technical assistance to support water sector reform through a project that runs from 2008 to 2011, implemented by GIZ (ex-GTZ). The project aims to collect data on performance indicators throughout the country, to assist in meter reading in one service area, to carry out an inventory of water supply systems in the Bekaa Valley and to undertake a financial evaluation of water supply systems in Beirut.The German public disaster relief organization Technisches Hilfswerk
Technisches Hilfswerk
The Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk is a civil protection organisation controlled by the German federal government...
(THW), which works mainly through volunteers, provided emergency assistance in the South only days after the 2006 hostilities ended. It first installed a laboratory and carried out drinking water analyses. Afterwards it installed chlorination equipment in 30 tanks benefiting 15,000 people, constructed a water tower and repaired three other water towers. THW worked on behalf of the German government, the Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission (ECHO) and UNICEF.
Islamic Development Bank
The Islamic Development BankIslamic Development Bank
The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development financing institution located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was founded by the first conference of Finance Ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference , convened 23 Dhu'l Qa'dah 1393 AH.The bank officially began its activities on...
has agreed to finance the construction of Bisri dam in 2008. The dam on the Awali River will store water that is to be supplied as drinking water to Beirut.
Italy
Italy supports the Lebanese water and sanitation sector through various technical assistance grants, including a US$1.8m grant approved in 2010 to create a "Lebanese center for water management and preservation" and a hydrological study in an unspecified area in cooperation with UNDP. The Center for Water Management and Presevation, to be located in the Ministry of Water and Energy and to be established with the help of UNDP and Italian funding over a 2-year period, is supposed to "coordinate on-going water programmes", "develop an action plan on sustainable water policy" and to achieve "national public awareness raising", among other things. Lebanon also received water monitoring equipment from Italy to be installed on the Orontes River, as well as the Hasbani River and the Wazzani spring. The two latter flow into Israel.Japan
Keserwan District
Keserwan is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
in 1996. In Sidon the project was to finance a sewer network with a length of 38km, a trunk sewer with a length of 7km, two sewage pumping stations and a preliminary treatment plant with a capacity of 33,600m3/day. Later the design was changed to add the financing of a 2km sea outfall, increase the capacity of the treatment plant to 45,000 m3/day, increase the number of pumping stations to 13 and to reduce the length of sewers financed. The construction of the wastewater treatment plant was finished in 2006, but it became operational only in 2010 when at least some of the trunk sewers were finally connected to the plant. In Keserwan District Japan finances the expansion of a water intake at the Al Madiq spring, 50km of transmission mains, 13 pumping stations 22 service reservoirs and 202km of distribution mains. The project will alleviate water scarcity in a number of villages where demand is twice as high as available supply. As of 2008, a centerpiece of the project—a 4 km tunnel with a diameter of almost 4m—was under construction.
Kuwait
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic DevelopmentKuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development , commonly known as the Kuwait Fund, is the State of Kuwait’s agency for the provision and administration of financial and technical assistance to developing countries...
has provided 55m Kuwaiti Dinar (US$187m) in soft loans (2.5% interest, 24–30 years maturity) for water supply and sanitation between 1993 and 2010. The projects are located in Beirut, the South and the Matn District in Mount Lebanon governorate. The latest water project supported by Kuwait in Lebanon is the Qaisamani Dam, which will provide 35 villages in Mount Lebanon with drinking water and for which a US$19m loan agreement was signed in 2010.
United States
USAID provides US$8m technical assistance and training, limited-scale infrastructure activities, and specialized equipment for the Litani River Authority, transforming the Authority in a "river basin agency". It also provides US$19.5m to improve the management, operations and services of the four Regional Water Establishments, including a "national strategic water and wastewater master plan". Memoranda of understanding about both programs were signed in June 2010.The first project builds on a previous U.S.-supported project that helped the South Lebanon Water Establishment to become—according to the consulting firm who works on the project, DAI—"a model for the other water establishments in Lebanon." The project introduced a business plan and a financial model for the utility. It attempted to replicate the positive experience in the South to the Beirut/Mount Lebanon Water Establishment, but faced difficulties there because of a lack of support from management. The project also tried to promote public-private partnerships (PPPs) through the establishment of a PPP unit in the Ministry of Energy and Water. The work of the unit has had little impact and "all activities related to PPP (were put) on hold due to the absence of a clear vision regarding PPP in the country". The project also aimed to develop a new tariff strategy, but actually carried out an assessment of current revenues and scenarios for future revenues. Furthemore, substantial training was carried out and a South Lebanon Wastewater Master Plan was developed. Last but not least production and zone meters were installed in Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
, the only city in the South and one of the few localities in the entire country that has customer meters. However, it is unclear if the meters are actually being read. The final report of the project concludes, among other things, that there is a lack of sufficient qualified staff in the regional water establishments, a lack of accurate operational and financial data, and a lack of local firms specialized in the development and implementation of financial and accounting systems.
World Bank
The World BankWorld Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
has supported the Lebanese water and sanitation sector since 1993 when it approved an Emergency Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project. With the help of the project water systems in 97 communities were rehabilitated or built, as were 98 small sewerage systems. After the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, 5 additional water and sewerage systems were rehabilitated benefiting 140 communities. The project also rehabilitated or expanded three large water productions and distribution systems and wastewater treatment plants Baalbek, Metn and Barouk. Because complementary works, to be financed by other sources, had not been completed on time, these facilities were inoperative as of 2006. In particular, the Baalbek wastewater treatment plant (13,000 m3/day capacity), completed in early 2002, was not connected to the sewerage system. The World Bank continued to support water supply and sanitation in Baalbek
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
through a US$43.5m loan approved in 2002. This was followed by a US$15m emergency grant in 2007 to support the rehabilitation and expansion of water supply systems in five villages in the Western Bekaa Valley. In December 2010, the World Bank approved a US$200m loan to support the Greater Beirut Water Supply Project. The World Bank had to cancel a previous loan for submarine treated wastewater outfalls in Kesrouan and Sour approved in 1998 after the government had not ratified the corresponding loan agreements.
Further reading
- Council for Development and Reconstruction:Potable Water Supply, Progress Report October 2009
- Council for Development and Reconstruction:Project search water
External links
- Ministry of Energy and Water (as of January 2011 this website appears to have last been updated in 2007)
- Ministry of Environment
- Law No 221: Organization of the Water Sector