40% of Jeddah districts to have sewer connections 

(MENAFN - Arab News) Forty percent of Jeddah neighborhoods shall be included in house sewer connections by the end of this year, said Abdullah Ali Assaf, general manager of the Jeddah business unit at the National Water Company. The deadline for the completion of the project is 2015.

Field teams of the company spotted assaults by one contractor at Palestine Street, which contains 13 sewers. This resulted in the damage of the sewage network in that area. Assaf said that the contractor was fined SR 65,000.

"As of next year, we will begin demolishing the waste water treatment station in some neighborhoods because of its small capacity and the side effects on residents there. The other stations, Al Khamrah 1,2,3, are being transferred to the other Khamrah 4, with a secondary treatment and temporary capacity of 250,000 m3/day. All treatment stations to be renovated to tertiary treatment," said Assaf.

Assaf pointed out that the issue of ground water, which is causing trouble to the residents of Jeddah, would be addressed starting with 18 neighborhoods with a timeline and budget of SR 152 million.

"Some sites have already been delivered to contractors to start construction work, others to be implemented soon. Although there are some neighborhoods where groundwater is flowing, it is not on the agenda of this stage of implementation as it is firstly in need of a sewage network," he added.

The second phase of the project will start in mid 2013, after which all Jeddah neighborhoods will be included with house sewer connections by the end of 2015.