Disi Water Conveyance

It is designed to pump 100,000,000 cubic metres (2.2×1010 imp gal) of water per year from the Disi aquifer,[1] which lies beneath the desert in southern Jordan and northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Construction began in 2009 and was mostly completed in July 2013 when the project was inaugurated by King Abdullah of Jordan.

An independent study revealed the water to be radioactive and potentially dangerous to drink, initially surrounding the project with controversy.

It is 320 kilometres (200 mi) long and located 500 metres (1,600 ft) below ground inside of porous sandstone.

[9] The aquifer has created controversy between Saudi Arabia and Jordan, with each country demanding the other to use less of the shared water.

[12] The project proposed by the Jordanian government will pump 100,000,000 m3 (2.2×1010 imp gal) of water per year from 55 wells in the aquifer.

The reservoirs near Amman are only 200 m (660 ft) higher than the surface area where the pumping field is located.

Nevertheless, the total elevation differential over which water needs to be lifted by both pumping stations is about 800 metres (2,600 ft).

The entire project would require approximately 4 percent of Jordan's current electrical production.

The project is expected to be completed by January 2017 and to run for 25 years or until the Two Seas Canal is built.

[8] By April 2011, 99% of the 340 km (210 mi) of project's piping had arrived from Turkey, an anonymous source told The Jordan Times.

All work was stopped for two weeks after two employees were killed in January 2011 — allegedly murdered by a member of the Bedouin tribe.

[17] However, near the site of the killings, the town of Ma'an had protests against the government's failure to punish the killers.

[18] During October and November, 2011 the construction works have been suspended at southern part of the project from Hasa to Mudawwara due to security problems created by tribes, therefore there is delay in this part which will affect the completion date of the project.

[23] The state-owned French bank PROPARCO, which is the part of the French Development Agency (AFD) that supports private sector development, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) each lent about US$100M to Diwaco.

[28][29] The project became controversial in 2009 when a study performed by Avner Vengosh of Duke University revealed the Disi water to be highly radioactive.

The worldwide average natural dose of human's exposure to radiation is about 2.5-3 millisievert per year.