JEDDAH, 28 April 2003 — A recent shutdown of the water supply to the King Khaled Military Hospital was not due to infected water. Rumors flourished in the city that pollution had entered the hospital system through unsanitary delivery tankers.

Maj. Khaled Bakulka, executive director of operations for the Western Region, is responsible for, among other things, the quality of water in the hospital complex.

He told Arab News that, in his view, the whole episode had been exaggerated out of all proportion. He confirmed that a memo had been issued requesting that water should not be used and saw that as the trigger for the rumors.

“What actually happened was only maintenance; the water storage has been fully serviced now,” said Maj. Bakulka. He told Arab News that the hospital had been using its current water storage and distribution system for 20 years. Water is delivered by tanker from the desalination plant in Jeddah and stored in holding tanks. The chance of contaminated water getting into the tanks, he maintained, is remote.

“Water is delivered by tanker, from the desalination plant. It wasn’t a matter of the water becoming polluted, because we take a sample from each tank before it is placed in the hospital storage system. We test in our own laboratory and if we have doubts about any sample, we send it for independent testing outside the hospital,” said Maj. Bakulka.

He explained that the maintenance schedule of the storage and distribution system within the hospital depends on usage. The number of hours or years it has been used determines the maintenance period.

“It is done on a regular basis; it is routine and standard maintenance,” said the major, but was unable to say how often or when it had last been carried out.

He confirmed that, in his experience, there had never been a complete shutdown of the water system in the hospital before. “We maintain just as anyone does in his home, as one does in Jeddah after a certain period. We have infection testing teams who test for bacteria — the test was negative, there were no bacteria.”

When the water system is cleaned, high concentrations of anti-bacterial chemicals are used. The system is cleaned and flushed. During that period, consumption or use of water for human purposes is unwise.

The memo that Maj. Bakulka believes was the cause of the scare was to inform the people not to use water until maintenance had been finished.

“It was completed last week. The water is back to normal; the units were maintained within 24 hours,” he said.

The problem should not recur because the hospital will, within the next few months, be connected to the desalination plant in Jeddah by direct pipeline and thus will end two decades of reliance on tankers.