The project region is the transnational Lower Jordan Rift Valley in Jordan, Palestine and Israel. The water resources available in this region are almost fully assigned, and the availability of water is insufficient for covering the rising need. The development of a comprehensive, integrated approach to the management and usage of resources therefore requires the inclusion of all water resources, including the reuse of treated wastewater.

The implementation of decentralized wastewater management concepts offers an important contribution to the development of sustainable system solutions for Jordan’s water management. The extent of this contribution, however, is highly dependent on the technological, economic, cultural, and social conditions of the respective region of implementation.

Therefore, the adaptation of decentralized wastewater treatment technologies to local conditions constitutes an important component of the SMART project. For this reason, a demonstration site with an exhibition area will be created in Amman, where the principal decentralized technologies and possible concepts for reuse will be introduced and optimized. Training courses shall be used to inform decision-makers as well as potential users of the new technologies about the legal conditions, possibilities of usage and financing, and about technical questions.

Despite their advantages, new technologies are often neither accepted nor applied correctly by the users. The implementation of decentralized wastewater technologies is therefore not only dependent on scientific and technical factors, but also on social, political and economic variables. Hence, BDZ develops operating models for decentralized wastewater treatment for selected locations. The project will be accompanied by socio-economic investigations, which consider local social structures and the potential users’ willingness to pay, as well as the technical, political and legal conditions.

The multidisciplinary SMART project team consists of 21 partners from universities, research institutes, NGOs and companies from Germany, Israel, Jordan and Palestine.