Presented by Eng. Mona Fakih

Director of Water

Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water

Current situation in Lebanon� Total wastewater production: 310 McM / year (250

McM municipal/domestic & 60 McM industrial);

� 1984 Wastewater Master Plan was developed and updated in 1994: it foresaw 54 integrated systems (collection – treatment – disposal), 12 coastal + 42 inland;

� 1999 the 10-years Strategy Plan was launched and included, among others, provisions for wastewater treatment and reuse;

� 2011: only 7 (out of the 12) are completed but not connected to networks and 2 are operational but under capacity; only 4 (out of the 42) are completed but only 2 are operational and under capacity;

� Two thirds of the population are connected to wastewater collection networks BUT only 8% reached the four operational plants and is treated;

� Environmental costs of the situation are severe: most wastewater collected is discharged raw, without treatment, into watercourses and the sea; cesspits are used with considerable seepage into groundwater; few industries pre-treat their effluents � health impacts and costs, pollution of water resources and soil, loss of amenity and tourism income

Current situation in Lebanon

Problems and causes

� The investment program is not well coordinated;

� Appropriate legal, regulatory & policy framework have not been established and enforced:

� Split of responsibilities between MoE & MEW;

� No policy on pre-treatment of industrial wastewater;

� No guidelines on the selection of most cost-effective wastewater treatment techniques;

� No policy for systematic reuse of treated wastewater;

� Institutional responsibilities are unclear between different bodies (CDR, MEW, WEs, municipalities, etc.)

� No experience and capacity of the bodies (WEs) responsible for operation of the wastewater collection and treatment systems;

� The advantages of partnerships with the private sector have not been explored adequately: the legal, regulatory and institutional framework for private sector participation is not enabling;

Problems and causes

The way ahead…sector objectives and

targets (2011-2020) based on the

NWSS recently launched� Increase the present wastewater collection and

treatment from 60% and 8% to respectively 80% by 2015 (collection & treatment) and 95% by 2020 (collection & treatment);

� Pre-treatment of all industrial wastewater by 2020;

� Increase reuse of treated effluent from 0% in 2010 till 20% by 2015 and 50% by 2020;

� Secondary treatment and reuse of all inland wastewater by 2020 and secondary treatment by 2020 of costal wastewater where reuse is economically justified;

� Full recovery of O&M costs by 2020 following the ‘polluter pays’ principle and full recovery for BOT projects;

To achieve this: 5 strategic initiatives ����

1- An integrated and prioritized investment program;

2- Legal, regulatory and policy measures to set and regulate standards;

3- institutional measures to define responsibilities and create capacity for service delivery;

4- Financial measures for viability and affordable services;

5- Measures to optimize PSP in the wastewater sector

The way ahead…sector objectives

and targets (2011-2020)

� Increases in wastewater collection, treatment and re-use rates by:� MEW taking the lead in working with other bodies and

institutions and the private sector to prepare and obtain financing for an integrated investment program.

� Top priority will be completing existing treatment plants and rapidly increasing the effective networks connection so that treatment rates are at the level of the installed treatment capacity of the plants;

� Preparation of regional wastewater master plans to plan better for integral systems (collection-treatment and reuse)

An integrated and prioritized

investment program

Legal, regulatory and policy measures

to set and regulate standards� Cooperation with other concerned agencies/institutions

for setting and regulating standards for treatment and reuse;

� Issuing new by-laws specifying: � Responsibilities for setting/regulating standards;

� Implementation of polluter pays principle

� Responsibilities for industrial pre-treatment;

� Responsibilities for monitoring & enforcement;

� Planning, investment programming and implementation by relevant agencies & private sector;

� National guidelines & criteria for treatment and reuse to be reviewed and issued jointly by an inter-ministerial committee;

Institutional measures to define

responsibilities and create capacity for service

delivery� WEs will progressively take over responsibility for service

delivery & their capacity will be developed. Private sector will be used where appropriate:

� Asset evaluation (ownership of all collection and treatment assets by WEs);

� Asset transfer and preparing plans for O&M of assets: either by WEs or municipalities by delegated management;

� Capacity building of WEs (management, operation and maintenance) ;

� Capacity building for MEW (oversight & support of wastewater sector)

Financial measures for viability and

affordable services

� Following the ‘polluter pays’ principle, full recovery of O&M costs will be introduced progressively to generate revenues and the conditions for financial viability and transparent operating subsidies will be paid during the transition period until WEs can cover their costs :

� Cost recovery: measures will be introduced to recover progressively from users the full cost of O&M of wastewater services. When volumetric billing for water supply will be introduced accordingly wastewater charges will be billed together with water charges.

Measures to optimize PSP in the

wastewater sector

� Study of options for PSP in financing, execution and operation of investments, including BOT;

� Test models for PSP: one or more pilot projects will be launched, like BOT contracts for inland treatment plants and O&M contracts for treatment plants;

� Strengthening WEs capacity to prepare and oversee contracts with private sector involvement.

THANK YOU for YOUR ATTENTION!