The National Water Company (NWC) plans to build a massive 12 million cubic meter storage facility in three years in Jeddah that will end all water shortages in the city during emergencies.
Abdullah Al-Assaf, director of the NWC's Jeddah business, said that the company pumps enough water to supply the city's four million inhabitants, but the problem has always been a lack of storage capacity in the city. The proposed storage facility will supply water when there are problems with the pipeline network.
“A giant storage project will be implemented in the region to secure reserves of more than 12 million cubic meters of water,” he was quoted as saying by local media.
Commenting on the water shortages in Jeddah every year during Ramadan, he said: “The quantities pumped daily are sufficient to meet the needs of the population, especially after the new station was launched.”
He said a plan is in place to keep up with growing demand during the holy month. This includes adequate supply to houses and distribution centers. “Coupons were canceled because of the abuses and violations committed by some distributors,” he said while reacting to recent long queues at water distribution centers in the city.
Water distribution centers would not be closed, particularly in areas not covered by the water network, he said. “These operations will still be running for another five years at least.”
There are four distribution centers — in Al-Faisaliah, Briman, Kilo 14 and Quwaizah, he said. “These centers work 24 hours a day.”
He urged citizens and residents not to go to distribution centers for their water because the company is “committed” to delivering water to their homes once orders are received.
He said 150 employees are tasked with following up on orders and calls received from customers. “We receive more than 6,000 calls a day,” he said.
The giant water storage project will be built in Briman, which currently has a reservoir of two million cubic meters of water. “The first phase of the project will be completed early next year. The second stage's technical and financial studies are under way. This will add another one million cubic meters of water.”
The third and fourth stages of the project would be completed within three years, with a total storage capacity of 12 million cubic meters, to help deal with emergencies, he said.
Giant storage plant will solve Jeddah’s water problem
