Makkah’s Zamzam Well has the best drinking water on the face of the earth. Pilgrims at the Grand Mosque make sure they drink as much as possible and buy containers to take home to friends and family.
There is abundant Zamzam water despite huge consumption by Haj and Umrah pilgrims over the years.
The water was a gift from Allah to Prophet Ismail, peace be upon them, when he cried of thirst as his mother Hajar looked for water by running between the hillocks of Safa and Marwa.
She did this until Allah, in His graciousness, ensured that water started gushing out from under his feet, and Hajar started moving the sand to protect the water, saying “Zamzam, Zamzam, Zamzam, Zamzam,” according to a report carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
Since then, it has become a tradition to protect the well, to ensure it continues to supply residents, pilgrims and visitors.
This is the function today of the project set up by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in the Kadi area in Makkah.
The project provides 5,000 cubic meters of Zamzam water and 200,000 plastic 10-liter containers on a daily basis.
The plant was built at a cost of SR 700 million in Ramadan 2010 and has 42 distribution points running from its headquarters. As a result, Zamzam water containers are available on a 24-hour basis.
The project’s state-of-the-art system can produce up to 5 million liters of water through a linear filter.
It has a principal storage tank with a capacity of 10 million liters, with four pumps to the Grand Mosque's square through a 200 mm stainless steel line.
The production factory was built on 13,405 square meters and consists of several buildings with air compressors, a warehouse and production lines.
It has 10MW electrical generators and works on the SCAD system, which allows for control and monitoring of all phases of the project including pumping water from the well and packaging.
The project also has a central warehouse with air conditioning and warning and fire systems worth SR 75 million. There are 15 levels of storage and distribution of 1.5 million 10-liter containers. The factory is linked through lines and bridges to ensure easier production and distribution between buildings.