The wastewater pumping station in Nmairiye, South Lebanon, was constructed in 2012 by Lebanon’s Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) to pump wastewater from the communities of Deir Ez Zahrani, Habbouch, and Kfar Roummane to the treatment plant in EL- Charqiye, thereby serving an estimated 50,700 residents. It was operated for a while by a private sector contractor, however, due to the absence of a secure access road, coupled with an economic crisis limiting local authorities’ abilities to operate/maintain it, the facility was left un-operational, leading to health and environmental hazards due to uncontrolled discharge of untreated wastewater.

In response, USAID’s Community Support Program (CSP) rehabilitated the Nmairiye wastewater pumping station and constructed a 410-meter road to facilitate access to the facility. To ensure the sustainability of this intervention, CSP is also training staff from the South Lebanon Water Establishment (SLWE) on the safe operation and maintenance of the newly rehabilitated facility and best waste management practices. On December 12 and 13, 2023 CSP trained nine SLWE engineers and technicians to operate and maintain the CSP-rehabilitated Nmairye wastewater pumping station and provided SLWE staff with safety equipment, operation and maintenance guidelines, and tipsheets for future reference.

“Thanks to this training, we have enhanced our internal capacities to manage the Nmairiye pumping station instead of it being managed by a contractor,” said Souheil Kobeissi, SLWE Electrician