LONDON: The Saudi Embassy in the United Kingdom said Saturday that water from the Zamzam well in Makkah is not contaminated and is fit for human consumption. This came in response to a report first aired on Channel One of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and later reported by local newspapers in London recently. The reports stated that there are high levels of arsenic in both fake and genuine Zamzam water found in the United Kingdom. The embassy said in a statement that tests have been conducted on samples of Zamzam water at its primary source. This has proven that Zamzam water is fit for drinking and human consumption. The embassy said that laboratories approved by the Ministry of Health based in Leon, France, analyzed the water in March and found it safe. “In line with the standardization in France the analysis conducted on a specimen of Zamzam water showed that the water is fit for human consumption.” The embassy reiterated that the Kingdom does not export Zamzam, so the people selling the water in the United Kingdom fall under the jurisdiction of the British authorities. It said the presence of a label on a vessel does not necessarily mean it is pure Zamzam water found at the original source in Makkah, which is provided by the King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Zamzam Water Project and overseen by the Minister of Water and Electricity. The statement stressed that great care is taken to provide pure Zamzam water. The King's project was launched in 2010 at a cost of SR700,000, which uses the latest technology for the automated distribution of Zamzam water.
