According to MEED, despite the obvious lack of government, Lebanon is proceeding with its Greater Beirut water scheme:
Lebanon has invited expressions of interest (EoI) from consultants to advise on the designing of a water distribution system in Greater Beirut.
[…]
The project is to include the following work:
- Construction of water supply reservoirs (between 500 cubic metres and 1,000 cubic metres of storage capacity each) and associated pumping stations across the various distribution zones in the project area
- Replacement and/or installation of water distribution network across the project area
- Installation of household meters and the installation of bulk meters at the reservoirs and distribution chambers
The project is expected to cover areas between Dammour and Jdeideh-Boucherieh.
An interesting fact about water meters is that unless you have a constant flow of water, these meters can malfunction:
Problems associated with metering arise particularly in the case of intermittent supply, which is common in many developing countries. Sudden changes in pressure can damage meters, so that many meters in cities in developing countries are not functional. Also, some types of meters become less accurate as they age and under-register consumption thus leading to lower revenues, unless they are being replaced regularly. Many types of meters also register air flows, which can lead to over-registration of consumption, especially in systems with intermittent supply, when water supply is re-established and the incoming water pushes air through the meters.
We are all well aware how ‘reliable’ Lebanon’s water supply is. So is this another project down the drain?
Water metering: Coming to Greater Beirut