Network of sewers to be connected to 132,000 city homes

The National Water Company (NWC) has started installing sewer lines at homes in Jeddahs north-central area and said it would finish connecting 132,000 homes to the municipal sewer system by the end of 2015 as scheduled, when the phased operation of the system is set to start. The company says it will finish installing sewer lines in 25,000 houses this year. While residents in the citys north-central area have welcomed the news they hope the projects will be completed on time, so that the current practice of calling the septic tanker to clean up the tanks could be done away with. Some residents also feel that the completion of the projects would help them financially. They feel the money saved from paying the tankers could go a long way in helping their family budgets. So far 3,000 houses in Al-Bawadi, Al-Salama and Al-Marwa districts were provided with the service, which is part of three contracts worth SR 168 million that the company had signed to provide homes in the area (north-central) with 13,000 sewer lines. This marks the beginning of the first stage that would end in 2013 with 60,000 home sewer lines installed. The company has also awarded contracts to companies which received the locations to start installing the home sewer lines projects in a number of districts including Al-Marwa district, where 4,036 lines will be installed, and Al-Safa district that will have 4,060 home sewer lines. The company said it was currently finalizing the awarding process of a contract to install 7,190 sewer lines in Al-Nuzha district and part of Al-Rabwa area. The two contracts are worth SR 52 million and SR 99 million respectively. Within the first stage, thousands of these lines will be installed in Al-Faisaliyah and Al-Rawdha districts, as well as in the remaining areas of the districts mentioned above. The total value of all project contracts within this stage is more than SR 400 million, the company said. The second phase will start by the middle of 2013 and will include 72,000 sewer lines. The third phase that will start in 2015 with the installation of about 30,000 sewer lines in districts south of the city will see 90 percent of the city covered by the service, it said. Residents find problems related to septic waste annoying. Most buildings have their own septic tanks that require regular cleaning-out by tankers. If the project (to install sewer lines connected to municipal sewer network all over Jeddah) is executed on time, it would solve huge problems for residents, said Rajab Al-Shabani, a father of six and retired Al-Faisaliyah resident. The money I pay to the tankers should be disbursed to my children instead, he added. Al-Rabwa district resident Mutaz Jastaniya, a banker, said he became an expert in negotiations as he regularly collects money from the residents of his building to pay the tanker every time the buildings septic tank needs to be emptied. I am fed up seeing sewage flooding the street. I hope the water company commits to its deadlines to end our suffering.

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Network of sewers to be connected to 132,000 city homes