two sewage pumping stations and a preliminary treatment plant with a capacity of 33,600m3/day. later the design was changed to add the financing of a 2 km sea outfall, increase the capacity of the treatment plant to 45,000 m3/day, increase the number of pumping stations to 13 and to reduce the length of sewers financed. the construction of the wastewater treatment plant was finished in 2006, but it became operational only in 2010 when at least some of the trunk sewers were finally connected to the plant. in keserwan district japan finances the expansion of a water intake at the al madiq spring, 50 km of transmission mains, 13 pumping stations 22 service reservoirs and 202 km of distribution mains. the project will alleviate water scarcity in a number of villages where demand is twice as high as available supply. as of 2008, a centerpiece of the project—a 4 km tunnel with a diameter of almost 4m—was under construction. kuwait the kuwait fund for arab economic development has provided 55m kuwaiti dinar (us$187m) in soft loans (2.5% interest, 24–30 years maturity) for water supply and sanitation between 1993 and 2010. the projects are located in beirut, the south and the matn district in mount lebanon governorate. the latest water project supported by kuwait in lebanon is the qaisamani dam, which will provide 35 villages in mount lebanon with drinking water and for which a us$19m loan agreement was signed in 2010. united states usaid provides us$8m technical assistance and training, limited-scale infrastructure activities, and specialized equipment for the litani river authority, transforming the authority in a "river basin agency". it also provides us$19.5m to improve the management, operations and services of the four regional water establishments, including a "national strategic water and wastewater master plan". memoranda of understanding about both programs were signed in june 2010. the first project builds on a previous u.s.-supported project that helped the south lebanon water establishment to become—according to the consulting firm who works on the project, dai—"a model for the other water establishments in lebanon." the project introduced a business plan and a financial model for the utility. it attempted to replicate the positive experience in the south to the beirut/mount lebanon water establishment, but faced difficulties there because of a lack of support from management. the project also tried to promote public-private partnerships (ppps) through the establishment of a ppp unit in the ministry of energy and water. the work of the unit has had little impact and "all activities related to ppp (were put) on hold due to the absence of a clear vision regarding ppp in the country". the project also aimed to develop a new tariff strategy, but actually carried out an assessment of current revenues and scenarios for future revenues. furthermore, substantial training was carried out and a south lebanon wastewater master plan was developed. last but not least production and zone meters were installed in sidon, the only city in the south and one of the few localities in the entire country that has customer meters. however, it is unclear if the meters are actually being read. the final report of the project concludes, among other things, that there is a lack of sufficient qualified staff in the regional water establishments, a lack of accurate operational and financial data, and a lack of local firms specialized in the development and implementation of financial and accounting systems. world bank the world bank has supported the lebanese water and sanitation sector since 1993 when it approved an emergency reconstruction and rehabilitation project. with the help of the project water systems in 97 communities were rehabilitated or built, as were 98 small sewerage systems. after the israeli withdrawal from south lebanon, 5 additional water and sewerage systems were rehabilitated benefiting 140 communities. the project also rehabilitated or expanded three large water productions and distribution systems and wastewater treatment plants baalbek, metn and barouk. because complementary works, to be financed by other sources, had not been completed on time, these facilities were inoperative as of 2006. in particular, the baalbek wastewater treatment plant (13,000 m3/day capacity), completed in early 2002, was not connected to the sewerage system. the world bank continued to support water supply and sanitation in baalbek through a us$43.5m loan approved in 2002. this was followed by a us$15m emergency grant in 2007 to support the rehabilitation and expansion of water supply systems in five villages in the western bekaa valley. in december 2010, the world bank approved a us$200m loan to support the greater beirut water supply project. the world bank had to cancel a previous loan for submarine treated wastewater outfalls in kesrouan and sour approved in 1998 after the government had not ratified the corresponding loan agreements. non-governmental organizations a number of foreign and local non-governmental organizations (ngos) are active in the lebanese water and sanitation sector. for example, ngos such as the ymca, the mercy corps, chf international and the pontifical mission built 13 small wastewater treatment plants throughout the country during the 1990s with funding from usaid.