JEDDAH, 22 June 2004 — Crown Prince Abdullah has approved a budget of SR1.4 billion for water treatment here, the first installment of some SR7 billion earmarked to solve the sewage problem “within five years”, Al-Watan reported.
The director of the Water Authority in the Makkah Region, Muhammad Al-Baghdadi, said the amount was set aside to establish a comprehensive network of sewers and a treatment plant. The current system is old and faulty and designed to cope with a much smaller population.
The authority completed the studies for the projects and put them out to tender for Saudi contractors, he said.
In the first phase, some of the worst-affected areas would see projects worth SR600 million, he said.
Of the 300,000 cubic meters of sewage the city puts out daily, only 200,00 is treated and the rest is pumped straight out to sea, he added. A treatment plant is therefore badly needed.
Al-Baghdadi told the paper leakage and other wastage due to faulty infrastructure resulted in losses of some 20 to 30 percent of potable water in the region, though no accurate data are available. He said around 150,000 cubic meters a day in loss was normal, but anything above that was cause for concern.
