Pilgrims can safely consume thousands of cubic meters of water daily because of the special systems in place to sterilize water in the holy sites. Pilgrims use 410,000 cubic meters of water every day during Haj, according to Engineer Muhammad Bin Ahmed Baghdadi, Supervisor General of the Directorate General of Water in the Makkah Region. One cubic meter is equal to 264.2 gallons of water. Baghdadi said the operation for the provision of water and sanitation includes filling 63 tanks at the holy sites which have a total storage capacity of 500,000 cubic meters. Special centers have been set up to sterilize water tanker trucks at the gateways to Makkah. There is a special program in place to conduct chemical and bacteriological analyses to ensure the water is free of pollutants. He said a major development this year has been the use of a new sewage treatment plant in ‘Uranah Valley to sterilize 250,000 cubic meters of sewage water daily. Also, a number of temporary water distribution points have been set up at Al-Ka'kiyah, located in the southern part of Makkah. This includes the districts of Al-Sabhani, Al-Khayyat, Bin Amran and Al-Shawqiyah. These districts will be provided with water by tanker trucks until the water system is set up properly. Baghdadi added that there is another contract underway to get rid of the sewage pools south of Al-Azizia, close to where many pilgrims stay. This will see the construction of sewage water tunnels from Al-Awali Area to Batha Quraish Area, extending a pipeline with a diameter of 2,500 mm from the end of the tunnel to the new three-stage treatment plant in Wadi ‘Uranah. Baghdadi added that the government recently laid the foundation stone for a special SR19 million project to set up a wireless and computerized system to manage the water supply.
