MAKKAH: Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman Al-Hussayyen, Minister of Water and Electricity, Sunday inaugurated the automatic distribution program of the Zamzam Well water in Holy Makkah. The automatic operation of the distribution points is part of the “King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Project for Zamzam Water Purification and Bottling,” opened by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques last Ramadan, the minister told reporters at the headquarters of the project here. “The total cost of the project amounts to SR700 million ($186.7 million) wholly covered by King Abdullah himself,” the minister noted. “The project targets launching 42 automatic distribution points to meet the daily consumptions of pilgrims at the holy sites in Makkah region,” Al-Hussayyen said, noting that plans are in the offing for launching similar distribution points of Zamzam water in Madina. “The non-profit project aims to pump the water from the bottling factory automatically to a central warehouse with an occupancy capacity of 1.5 million bottles. The facility is designed to offer bottles in an order of precedence based on the dates of bottling,” the minister added. Al-Hussayyen refuted recent press reports about nitrate and arsenic pollutants in the water, saying that the source of pollutants could never be originating from the bottling factory which meets the world's safety standards. Samples of water were taken from the factory and sent to a world-renowned laboratory in Europe and the results came negative, he said, adding that the factory is equipped with sophisticated equipment to ensure the safety of water.
