EBRD and ONEE provide Morocco with WTP under lockdown

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is funding the construction of a new water treatment plant (WTP). The facility will provide access to clean potable water for 140,000 people in the city of Ouarzazate, southern central Morocco and villages in the vicinity.

The plant has a capacity of 250 liters per second and a 40 km extension of pipes enabling the network to more easily provide water to these communities.

The Ouarzazate project is part of a €65 million investment program financed by the EBRD which aims to improve the drinking water supply to three medium-sized Moroccan cities and 260 rural communities in the areas of Azilal, Ben Guerir and Ouarzazate.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created an unparalleled burden on the world’s health sectors, economies, and water resources sectors and more especially in countries where water is in short supply, such as Morocco whereby simple acts of hygiene can place the infrastructure under exceptional pressure.

In mid-March after the first coronavirus infections had been detected in the country the government of Morocco started to apply strict public health measures. After lockdown came into force the National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) of Morocco  accelerated the construction of the new WTP in order to cope with this rise in consumption and has enabled a continuous supply of drinking water in the country limiting the spread of the virus.

The investment is supported by a €4.5 million comprehensive technical assistance program jointly designed by the EBRD and ONEE to address corporate governance issues, and funded by the Federal Ministry of Finance of Austria, the EBRD’s SEMED Multi-Donor Account (Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Taipei China and the United Kingdom).