The National Water Company has started implementing the first phase of a strategic water storage facility in Jeddah at a cost of SR 500 million. According to NWC, the project will be first of its kind in the city.
The storage tank will have a capacity to hold 1.5 million cubic meters of water. The contract has already been awarded and the project will be completed in 24 months, following international standards, the company said.
The project, which is being implemented in Buraiman, aims at ensuring water security in the city and will supply 4.5 million cubic meters of water in the second, third and fourth phases.
“This will bring the total capacity of the facility to six million cubic meters while the total cost of the project will reach SR 2.2 billion,” it said.
In the first phase, four concrete tanks will be constructed, each with a capacity of 375,000 cubic meters, the company said.
NWC will implement a number of projects to support the strategic storage facility. They include construction of pipelines from the desalination plant to the Faisaliya water tank (at a cost of SR 99 million), the pipeline from Faisaliya to Buraiman (SR 93 million), a pumping station in Faisaliya (SR 70 million) and another project worth SR 120 million.
A similar strategic water storage facility will be established in the southern region of Najran at a cost of SR 100 million. “It will be one of the landmarks in the region,” said Najran Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah.
The project will include a fountain, a water games city, a heritage market and a cultural center, the governor said.
The water tank in Najran will have a capacity to hold 800 cubic meters and will have a height of 103 meters. Prince Mishaal discussed the project’s details with Saleh Hashlan, director general of water in the region.
The NWC, meanwhile, said it has saved more than 97 million cubic meters a day in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Taif by repairing leaks from pipelines in 2012. This enabled the company to have a surplus of SR 600 million.
The company said it saved 52 million cubic meters/day in Riyadh, 13 million cubic meters/day in Jeddah, 27 million cubic meters/day in Makkah and more than 4 million cubic meters/day in Taif.
“These water savings have resulted after the use of modern technology for detection of unclear leaks, the use of audio, radar beams to detect the water networks, as well as the use of helium gas to monitor leaks in the network,” the company said.
“These efforts come as part of the company's goals to preserve water resources, intensify programs of unclear leaks detection and improve the overall performance in the water and waste water sectors,” it added.
During the past three years since the company’s inception, NWC has been able to reduce wastage of water through the nationalization of technologies and the use of a package of IT software technologies. In 2011, NWC saved 67 million cubic meters/day, making a financial surplus of SR 400 million.
Work begins on SR 500 m Jeddah water storage plant
