Jeddah's Al-Aziziyah district faces water shortage

Residents of Jeddah’s densely populated Al-Aziziyah district, who have been experiencing water shortage, are now depending on water tankers.
The district is suffering from chronic interruptions of water supply and so looking forward to water tankers has become a routine affair, one of them said.
Some of the residents said they tried to contact the municipality to complain about the water shortage, but “none of them responded.”
The district, which chronically suffers from inadequate water supply, is now the scene of a number of people eagerly waiting in long queues for booking water tankers at the Makarona Street water filling station, near Tahlia.
Even getting a water tanker is not simple. The district, which predominantly has expatriate residents, is so bad in terms of water that families are not getting water tankers in time.
“There is a technical problem and so we cannot send water tankers to some districts, which are experiencing interrupted water supply,” a source at the Makarona Street water station said. This problem will be solved within a week, he assures, adding that currently we cannot give the service,” the source added.
Water tankers that are usually delivered within an hour of booking are now taking more than 72 hours to reach the residents. A number of them said, they had to personally visit the supply center in Tahlia after losing hope of getting anywhere through the station’s call centers.
Seven-ton, 11-ton or 19-ton water tankers are available, but Jeddah residents prefer a 19-ton capacity tanker, a station source added.
Ali Rida, an Indian resident of the district, told Arab News that he has been waiting for a water tanker for more than 48 hours after repeatedly asking for it.
Another Indian resident said he agreed to pay SR350 for a 19-ton water tanker that actually costs SR123, but the driver refused to deliver, saying that the roads in his area were too narrow.
Abdullah Al-Assaf, director general of the National Water Company in Jeddah, told Arab News that the problem has persisted due to tanker operations being halved in the wake of the initial ban.
An additional 200,000 cubic meters of water have been provided to Jeddah at the end of 2013. However, this quantity should end the water problem. In the past, there were no water-related grievances in Jeddah and the tankers would typically deliver water within 15 minutes.
The National Water Company supplies millions of cubic meters of water to Jeddah from the Tahlia and Shoaiba plants, with 2,000 water tankers operating at four water refill stations.