Discharge point blamed for stench

The National Water Company (NWC) attributed the stench Jeddah residents have been complaining about in the last few days to the presence of a sewage discharge point near the airport.
The big stink is near the highway where sewage water tankers discharge their loads.
NWC’s director of Jeddah Business Unit Abdullah bin Ali Al-Assaf said the problem was not caused by the sewage treatment plant at the airport area inside a residential area.
Al-Assaf said many cities in the world have treatment plants inside residential areas and their presence have no effect.
“The plant treats waste water and any pollution in it including smells,” Al-Assaf said. “Another one with the capacity 500,000 cubic meters will be constructed in the same location. The project will be awarded to a contractor soon.”
He said there is no delay in plans to install home connections to the sewer system and groundwater in the southern and eastern parts of the city have no effect on the process of installing connections as there are methods to pump out the water.
The excavations that annoyed street users are only natural as home connections require a lot of excavations. He appealed to the residents to bear with the inconveniences as these projects will relieve the city from water tankers in the future.
He said the NWC is responsible for handling and solving the issue of groundwater inside and outside cities, adding that the first project to tackle 18 locations of groundwater under the governor’s orders was complete.
“The company installed an integrated network for groundwater at Kilo 14 area’s northern and southern parts and we made sure it (groundwater) does not affect the people there,” he said.
Al-Assaf said that so far home connections to the sewer system have reached more than 25,000. The number of connections will reach 35,000 by the end of 2013, according to the company’s home-connection plan that was divided into three stages. By the end of 2015, the number of connections is scheduled to reach 245,000, he added.
“During the first stage from 2011 to the middle of 2013, connections were installed for homes in Al-Salama, Sari, Al-Bawadi, Al-Safa and Al-Rabwa districts. During the current second stage that stretches to the end of 2015, connections will reach 138,106 in Al-Aziziyah, Al-Faysaliah, Al-Khaldiah, Al-Shati, Al-Fayha and Al-Marjan districts.”
NWC is also working on spreading awareness about rationing water. There is an intensive program in that regard that provides information and tools to government departments and residents. The effort can contribute to saving 30 percent of water, which would reflect in the bill.
The company will soon sign a SR 21 million-contract with a company to pump out the stagnant water pools in Al-Ajaweed and Al-Sanabel districts, which will be followed by connection installations, he added.