Zahle Wastewater Treatment Plant
Wastewater treatment, Treats around 20,000 m3/day in Lebanon.
Operational
The record
- Country
- Lebanon
- Location
- Zahle
- Coordinates
- 33.794, 35.914
- Technology
- Wastewater treatment
- Capacity
- Treats around 20,000 m3/day
- Capital cost
- EUR 29 m (Italian loan of EUR 22 m and EUR 7 m from the Government of Lebanon), converted at EUR 0.89 per US$ (World Bank official exchange rate, euro area, 2017 average, the year the plant was completed; the loan is dated 2000 by UNDP and 2005 by the National News Agency, so no loan-year rate is used); reuse planned, not built
- Stage
- Operational
- Owner or client
- Council for Development and Reconstruction
- Developer
- SUEZ Environment
- Contractor
- SUEZ Environment (build-operate-transfer)
- Operator
- UNDP-contracted operator since September 2022
- Finance
- Italian Agency for Development Cooperation loan of EUR 22 million with EUR 7 million from the Government of Lebanon; operation funded from 2022 by an Italian grant of EUR 4 million channelled through UNDP
- Award or start year
- —
- Commissioned
- 2017-10
Record last checked 2026-10-16.
History
- 2012-10
CDR reports the plant under construction and 50% executed
- 2017-10
Construction completed and the plant put into operation
- 2020
Bekaa Water Establishment announces it cannot operate the Zahle, Iaat and Joub Jannine plants to required standards
- 2022-06
Italy signs a EUR 4 million two-year grant for operation and sludge treatment
- 2022-09
UNDP-managed operation begins on 1 September
- 2025-05
World Bank mission records the remaining Zahle sewer works due for completion in November 2025
Sources
11 references
Every field in the record above is taken from the references below. A field that none of them confirms prints as a dash.
- Karim Eid-Sabbagh, Wastewater Reuse in Lebanon: Shedding Light on Hydro-Social Politics at Multiple Scales, Water Alternatives 16(2): 606-631 (2023). water-alternatives.org.
- The plant treats around 20,000 m3/day of high-quality water lost to the polluted Litani; it was financed with a EUR 22 million loan from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation plus EUR 7 million from the Lebanese government; the CDR implemented the funds through a BOT contract awarded to SUEZ Environment with operation fees of EUR 2 million a year, supervised by the consulting company Rafiq Khoury; in 2020 the Bekaa Water Establishment stated it could not operate the built and equipped Iaat, Joub Jannine and Zahle plants to required standards.
- The961, Italy signed a $4.2 million loan for the wastewater treatment plant in Zahle (27 Jun 2022). the961.com.
- EUR 4 million from Italy over two years, managed by UNDP, covering sludge treatment.
- World Bank, Aide-Memoire, Implementation Support Mission 5-16 May 2025 for the Lake Qaraoun Pollution Prevention Project. documents1.worldbank.org.
- The remaining 38 km of sewer network in Zahle was due for completion by November 2025, a solar sludge dryer design by November 2025, and handover of all sewer network to the Bekaa Water Establishment by December 2025. Budget left blank: the euro figures carry no conversion rate or date.
- Coordinates from OpenStreetMap.
- UNDP Lebanon, Operation of Zahle wastewater treatment facility (project page). undp.org.
- In 2000 the Italian Government granted Lebanon a soft loan (AID/05/008/00) for the plant; construction completed in October 2017. National News Agency, 24 June 2022. nna-leb.gov.lb.
- The project was originally financed in 2005 by the Italian Government with a EUR 22 million soft loan; construction awarded by the CDR to Suez Trattamento Acque; operation and maintenance from 2 October 2017. CDR, Progress Report, October 2012, wastewater, p. 139. pseau.org.
- MENA Water Review major projects register and PPP pipeline — compiled from procurer publications, development-bank project pages and trade reporting; each record names its source.
The plant still being executed, US$24 million funded through the Italian Protocol, 50% executed. The contract award year is not stated in these sources (before October 2012), so the award or start year is left blank; the earlier 2022 entry was the year UNDP-managed operation began.