The Water Department officials are patting their backs on discovering the “prime reason” behind the water crisis in Jeddah: Breakdown of the main pipeline east of the highway. The pipeline supplies water from Al-Shu'aibah Desalination Plant to Jeddah's northern districts, authorities said. Efforts are under way to restore the pipeline, officials said. It is music to the ears of thousands of parched Jeddah residents if one has to believe in the latest “discovery” by the Water Department. The department has claimed that water was gradually pumped to northern districts beginning Saturday and said the crisis is receding. As a proof they said crowds at water distribution centers were thinning out. Several residents Okaz spoke to confirmed that they were getting a normal water supply but urged the Water Department officials to exercise fair allocation of water to avoid recurrence of the crunch. Meanwhile, Prince Saud Bin Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Spain, and Minister of Water and Electricity, Engineer Abdullah Al-Hussayen, on Saturday inaugurated the Kingdom's pavilion at the international water exhibition organized in Tharagutha city. Engineer Al-Hussayen said the limited natural water sources in the Kingdom have prompted the government to produce a large quantity of desalinated seawater. During the past 30 years, the Kingdom has invested heavily in the area of desalination and has become the largest producer of desalinated water at 29.2% of the total desalinated water produced in the world. In Jeddah, several cases of fainting and stampede at water distribution centers have come to light. Screaming women and wailing children have become a common sight at these centers these days. __
