They have started digging surface wells near their houses to collect the leaking sewage water, Al-Madinah reported Friday quoting a number of Jeddah residents.

Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, a 48-year-old resident of Al-Safa district in north Jeddah, said he used a number of foreign workers to dig a well near his home so as to get rid of the excessive sewage water.

“I have been living in this residential quarters for about five years. During this time, I have been suffering from the problem of overflowing sewage water that has been embarrassing me in front of my guests. We have been listening to promises from the concerned authorities to find a permanent solution to the problem but nothing was been done so far,” he said.

Ahmed Hazim, a 52-year-old resident of Al-Naseem district in north Jeddah, said, as a temporary solution, he agreed with a number of his neighbors to dig surface wells to collect the excessive sewage water. “Instead of paying SR150 to a sewage water truck every day, we paid SR2,500 for the digging of a well which will rid us of this problem at least for a year,” he said.

Maqbool, one of the foreign workers who dig these random wells, said many of the landlords are resorting to digging surface wells in front of their buildings to rid themselves of the problem of the leaking sewage water. He added that he himself dug about 10 wells in one street in Al-Safa district.

According to Maqbool, the well is six meters deep and is connected through a six-inch wide pipe with the main sewage tank in front of the building. He said the life span of these wells ranges between six and 18 months depending on the nature of the soil.

According to him, the digging of a well will take between two to three days and will cost about SR2,500. He, however, said in areas where the soil is hard such as in the southern districts of Al-Kandarah, Al-Sahifah, Al-Ammariyah and others the cost goes up to SR5,000 because they have to use digging equipment instead of their own hands.

Meanwhile, director of Civil Defense in Jeddah Brig. Abdullah Hassan Al-Jiddawi warned against digging random wells and said it was a gross violation of the safety measures. “Many people have lost their lives by falling into these wells,” he said.

Al-Jiddawi said they officially addressed the municipality to find a solution to this phenomenon that was endangering the lives of the residents. “These wells are also a threat to the soil and to the underground water,” he warned.

Saleh Farah Muqrim, director of the unit to process water and sewage at the Water Research Center warned that getting rid of the sewage water by pouring it deep into the earth would pollute the soil and cause a number of diseases. “This process will also increase the level of the underground water and cause land slides,” he said.

Muqrim also warned against mixing the drinking water with the sewage water and said this might cause of a number of fatal diseases.

A source at the media center of the municipality noted that the sewage network was the responsibility of the National Water Company (NWC) and said the absence of the sewage system drove people to dig wells so as to get rid of the excessive and overflowing sewage water.

He described this trend as illegal and said the branch municipalities were watching these phenomena with the aim of reducing it.

Director of the NWC in Jeddah Abdullah Al-Assaf promised the residents of the central Jeddah to end their predicament before the end of the current year. “The sewage network will be complete before year-end in many districts including Al-Safa, Al-Salamah, Al-Marwah and Al-Aziziyah,” he said.

Al-Assaf warned against digging random wells and said the company has teams checking such violations. “Violators will be punished according to the rules and regulations,” he said calling for the establishment of a committee from the company and the municipality to consider this issue.