RIYADH, 3 May — Fissures in two pipe lines carrying drinking water to Riyadh city from the Eastern Province has reduced the water supply to the city by 30 percent.
The Saline Water Conversion Corp. discovered three days ago major leaks on two of the three main pipes which supply 760,000 cubic meters of water daily to the city.
The first leak was located at Al-Janadriya, east of Riyadh. The pipe was closed for repairs while pumping continued in the other lines when a second pipe developed problems.
The sources traced the problem to the decay and corrosion in the pipe which had already presented problems last January. The cost of repairing the defective pipes is estimated at SR500,000. Supply will be resumed by the end of next week.
Khaled Al-Bawardi, director general of the Water and Sewage Department, in Riyadh said the leak has forced the SWD to “reschedule the distribution” and he hoped to complete the repairs in 10 days.
SWCC , responsible for the maintenance of the supply lines, refused to comment on the breakdown saying that the situation needed more study.
In the absence of proper supply in the city, residents fear the appearance of a black market charging very high prices for water. However, a SWD source says the department has instructed the water-supply contractors to step up their efforts to make maximum quantity of water available to the population. The local plants have been directed to manufacture more to cope with the situation. At the seven water-supply points in the city, special telephones have been installed to receive and follow up any complaints about higher prices for water, the source said. SWD teams will patrol the affected areas to guarantee that private tanker lorries supply hygienic water at normal prices of SR180 for tanker load of water containing 30,000 liters, SR108 for 18,000 liter tanker and SR 72 for 12,000 liter tanker.
On the other hand, the source expressed concern over a traffic ban on trucks entering city center at peak hours to distribute water. However, an official of the traffic department said water tankers were exempted from the ban.
