For 30 years Jeddah residents have seen sewage trucks remove their waste, but this will soon no longer be the case as the National Water Company starts connecting houses to the sewer network. A total of 20,000 houses, at a monthly rate of 2,500, will be connected in the first stage, according to sources quoted by Al-Watan Arabic daily newspaper. Connections will be installed first in Al-Salama, Al-Bawadi, Al-Safa, Al-Marwa and Al-Rabwa and will be operational by the first quarter of next year. The company's three-year plan is to cover 98 percent of the city with connections and a sewer system. The sources said only 22 percent of the city's inhabited areas is currently covered by the sewage system. This will rise to 46 percent by the end of 2012, to 70 percent by the end of 2013, and 100 percent coverage by the end of 2015. The second stage in 2012 will include more than 20,000 connections in Al-Rawdha, Al-Khalediya, Al-Faisaliya, Al-Nuzha, Al-Woroud and Al-Murjan districts. Work will include Mushrifa, Bani Malik and Al-Aziziya districts in the second half of 2012 and will be operational by the beginning of 2013. The company is planning to install 30,000 house connections in central and northern Jeddah, the yellow zone, in 2012. The new connections will have a daily capacity of 130,000 cubic meters. Areas east of the highway and some areas in the north, the red zone, will be covered by 40,000 connections by 2015 that will transfer 172,000 cubic meters daily. The violet and blue zones - southern and far northern Jeddah districts - will be covered by 50,000 connections by 2015 and have a daily capacity of 210,000 cubic meters. The company previously announced that it will offer to public tender 139,000 house connections after it finishes its 837 kilometer-long subsidiary pipeline network, most of which is already completed. The company has already completed 330 kilometers of its main network which is connected to the sewer station.
