Jeddah will get rid of the flooding problem in two years, said Abdullah bin Ali Al-Assaf, director of the Jeddah City Business Unit at the National Water Company. The third phase of the project, which covers 85 percent, is almost completed.

The project to reduce underground water levels in Al-Harazat District, east of Jeddah, will be implemented at the end of next year.

He said the company would install a perforated plastic pipe to absorb surface water from roads and neighborhoods.

Construction work will begin early 2014 and will last for three months at a cost of SR15 million.

He pointed out that strategic storage projects consist of seven phases, the first of which is being implemented now at Breman reservoirs. The unit will contain 2 million cubic meters of water in 24 months, at a cost of SR720 million.

At the sewage project in Jeddah, 95 percent of the main networks and tunnels are completed, while the sub-networks are 60 percent completed.

“Work is in full swing to implement residential connections, and this will be completed by 2015. The remaining part will be added to the second phase, which will be completed by 2017,” said Al-Assaf.

So far, 36,530 users have been connected to the sewage system.