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| Source: NWC. National Water Company, KSA continues to raise the bar on water supply in Makkah. |
HE Dr Abdulrahman Al-Ibrahim, CEO of the National Water Company (NWC) of KSA and Governor of the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has met with members of NWC's Executive Hajj Committee and SWCC & NWC Coordination Committee to discuss early preparations for the upcoming Hajj season.
In Makkah to launch the Makkah and Taif City Business Unit (MTCBU) building in Makkah's Alawali suburb, Al-Ibrahim also inspected several new NWC projects in Makkah, including the Almuaisim and Grand Mosque tanks to view their operations.
Al-Ibrahim said that NWC is committed to sustainable development in Makkah. He said, "This tour is in line with the instructions of our wise leadership to exert all efforts to serve Makkah visitors and help them perform their rituals with ease and comfort."
Al-Ibrahim noted that HE Engineer Abdulrahman Abdulmohsin Alfadli, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture and NWC Chairman, has been following up all ongoing development projects. He added that workshops and early coordination meetings have been ongoing to ensure successful Ramadhan and Hajj seasons.
Eng. Abdullah Ahmad Hassanen, MTCBU's Executive Director, said the Grand Mosque project features four cylindrical tanks, each 20m high, 98m in diameter and with a 140,000 cubic m capacity.
He added that the Almuaisim project also features four cylindrical tanks, each 20m high, 110m in diameter and with a 190,000 cubic m capacity. Hassanen announced that NWC recently completed the connection of two of the four Almuaisim tanks to the SWCC pipeline and added that NWC has adopted a water sterilisation and rotation system to ensure high quality water.
He noted that the total amount of water pumped to Makkah has reached 592,000 cubic m daily, of which 590,000 cubic m is from the Shuaibah water station and 2,000 cubic m from the Wadi Malakan Wells project that feeds the Grand Mosque toilets.
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| Source: NWC. View of water tanks in Makkah. |
He added that NWC receives desalinated water from SWCC and fills all Makkah water tanks (a total capacity of 2.3 million cubic m), including the Almuaisim million tank and other 34 operational tanks.
NWC, represented by the MTCBU, separately announced that it has finalised its summer plans for the water and environment services sectors in Makkah in collaboration with the SWCC.
The Company launched in April a potable water network that serves several suburbs in Makkah (Kakeiyah, Shawkeiyah, Khaldiyah, Sabhani, Mohammediyah, Bin Laden Plan, Om Alkatad, Alshafii, Alkhayat, Bin Omran, Zomah, Almarwah and Alsaluli). Two strategic tanks with a total capacity of 380,000 cubic m were launched on June 6 to cope with increased water demand from Makkah visitors over the summer.
NWC added that it has been supplying all Makkah water tanks, which carry a total capacity of about 1.2 million cubic m. They include the main tank in Almuaisim and all other 34 operational tanks in the city.
Hassanen stated that the production capacity of water stations has been increased by 133,000 cubic m daily – 50,000 cubic m were allocated for Kudai, 45,000 cubic m for Alkakeiyah, 25,000 cubic m for Almuaisim and 3,000 cubic m for Arafat station. These stations cover most of the Makkah suburbs. In addition, the number of tankers has been increased at water stations and waiting halls have been prepared to receive and serve customers.
The plan included the preparation and equipping of operation and maintenance centres to look after eight water networks and eight environment services networks. These centres are staffed by 73 teams equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and vehicles, 36 teams for operations and 37 teams for maintenance.
Hassanen said NWC is focusing on improving the quality of services provided in the city's Central Area, the parallel second ring road (Ajyad, Sheb Amer, Jabal Jeheaishah, Alquaslah, Alsulaiymaniyah and Almasfalah), and umrah areas (Alaziziyah, Albank Plan, Alshesheh and Alrawdah) that are usually crowded with visitors.
The NWC was established to provide water and wastewater treatment services in accordance with the latest international standards.