[citation needed] In 2009 there were more than 100 wastewater treatment plants in Morocco, mostly serving small and medium-sized towns located in the interior or the country.

This process experienced a setback when the French development agency AFD and the European Investment Bank withdrew their financing for the plant, citing non-respect of tender procedures as the reason.

Redal, the utility serving Rabat, was carrying out a study in 2009 to assess the feasibility of wastewater reuse to irrigate green spaces in the city.

Among others, the study foresees a very large new desalination plant in the Casablanca region with a capacity of around 685,000 m3/day (250 million m3/year), or more than 10% of total municipal water use in Morocco.

[5] In May 2014 the national utility ONEE signed a Build-Operate-Transfer contract for a 100,000 m3/day reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant in Agadir with a consortium between the Spanish firm Abengoa Water and the investment fund InfraMaroc.

[1] It is the poorest who have no access to sanitation: A 2004 World Bank study noted that "Sewerage service is completely lacking in the peri-urban areas of secondary urban centers.

Slums scattered across the bigger metropolitan areas are also deprived of access to the sewerage collection network, reinforcing the health risks and poverty stigma in those neighborhoods.

SMD, a consortium led by Lyonnaise des Eaux, provided services in Casablanca, Rabat, Salé, Tangiers and Meknes.

The bulk water supply system from the Oum Er-Rbia River to Casablanca remained in the hands of the private concessionnaire SMD.

At the same time wastewater tariffs (redevance d'assainissement) were first introduced, albeit at a very low level of less than 1 Dirham/m3, and a modest subsidy program was set up.

In 2009 the Cabinet approved a bill (Loi 40 09) that foresees a strategic alliance (regroupement) between ONEP and the national electric utility ONE.

The objective is to extend economies of scale in billing and maintenance, which are already achieved in the concessions and the Regies in the larger cities, to other areas of the country.

The bill is inspired by reform proposals that were put forward in various studies, including one by the management consulting firm McKinsey carried out for the Ministry of Interior in 2004.

The pilot projects are part of the National Human Development Initiative and are funded through a US$7 million grant by the Global Partnership for Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) administered by the World Bank.

Under the output-based aid approach investments are pre-financed by the concessionaires or the public utility that are being reimbursed by GPOBA only after a verification process certifies that the households have been connected and receive an adequate service.

According to the World Bank, the output-based aid approach has helped to improve processes, overcome financing obstacles and mobilize stakeholder partnership.

Overall, the sector is characterized by a complex and fragmented institutional framework, which - according to a 2004 World Bank report - "has hindered the formulation of a comprehensive sector-wide vision and the establishment of coherent policy objectives".

[30] Several private multi-utility concessionaires provide drinking water, sewerage services and electricity in Casablanca, Rabat, Tangiers, and Tetouan.

12 specialized municipally owned public operators called Régies autonomes provide water in 12 medium to large cities.

Urban tariff review mechanisms vary furthermore depending on whether the service provider is private or public, the process for the latter being more complicated and cumbersome than for the former.

Their level is low, not allowing the basin agencies to cover its own administrative costs, not to speak of contributing to the financing of investments by service providers as foreseen by the law.

At the same time their high level constitutes an obstacle to expand the network, despite a policy to allow poor customers to pay part of the connection fee in installments that are added to the monthly water bill over a period of up to 7 years (branchements sociaux).

An example is the rural water supply program PAGER initiated in 1995 that was supported by Belgium, the European Union, France, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Luxemburg and the World Bank.

The EIB has supported water supply and sanitation projects in six cities (Marrakech, Settat, Meknes, Agadir, Oujda and Fes), as well as a number of small towns.

In 2009 the total volume of approved and on-going investment projects supported by KfW was Euro 407m, all executed by ONEP in small and medium-sized towns and rural areas.

In 2008 JICA granted a 13.6 billion Yen (about Euro 90 million) loan to Morocco to finance rural water supply projects in the Provinces Chefchaouen, Taounate et Khénifra.

A Euro 15m rural water and sanitation project implemented by ONEP in the provinces Alhucemas, Nador, Taunat and Tazaand was approved in 2006.

[66] In 2009 the active portfolio of the World Bank included a US$60 million loan for a rural water supply and sanitation project approved in 2005 (implemented by ONEP) and a US$7 million grant from the Global Partnership for Output-based aid to increase urban access to water supply and sanitation (implemented by the Ministry of Interior).

It also includes a US$100 million loan to support the National Human Development Initiative approved in 2006, of which water supply and sanitation is an element.

[67] The World Bank also provided budget support through a US$100 million to Morocco through a Water Sector Policy Development Loan approved in 2007.