Water Riots in Jeddah!

Since there are no rivers that run all year in Saudi Arabia, the government has built 30 or more de-salination plants on the shores of the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf [I've always known it as the Persian Gulf, but they prefer you to call it the Arabian Gulf. It's a bit like the French not liking us calling the English Channel by that name.]

There are some artesian wells, but they are not sufficient to provide water for Saudi's growing population. [Growing? - exploding is more like it. They've gone from some 8 million people in the early '80s to an estimated 21 million in 2005. There are also an estimated 5.6 million ex-pats living in Saudi Arabia.]

The Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf are, like the Mediteranean, land-locked bodies of water that are only connected to the oceans by a very narrow channel. They are therefore, naturally much saltier than the open oceans. The effect of huge de-salination plants pumping thousand of gallons of brine every hour into these seas is to excacerbate their natural salinity. Conservationists are concerned that, sooner or later, these seas will become too salty for marine wildlife and an ecological disaster will ensue.

The mains water supply that comes from these de-salination plants is quite brackish. It is suitable for bathing and other household uses, but not for drinking and cooking. In one compound where I lived, most of the taps in the house supplied water from the mains, but the kitchen had an extra tap that provided "sweet water". Sweet water is water that contains hardly any salt and is suitable for drinkling and cooking.

Sweet water is delivered to compounds and appartment blocks by small tanker lorries. The sweet water is obtained either by further de-salination of the mains water or from artesian wells.

Recently however, the supply of water has not met demand. The following article from Arab News does not distinguich carefully between ordiary mains water and sweet water.

Water Crisis Causes Fistfights, Frustration

JEDDAH, 26 September 2006 -- With Ramadan under way, an angry mob -- already frustrated by long queues and fasting -- gathered yesterday at the main water distribution center, located in Jeddah's Aziziya District.

Tensions erupted into fisticuffs last night among some people waiting in queue to get their water tankers after the officials announced that they would stop issuing coupons needed to get water trucks for the day.

"Come back tomorrow," the official told the crowd. The disappointed and angry crowd dispersed to the parking lot where cars were parked in haphazard fashion. Police finally arrived to help direct the traffic.

Water distribution has been in the news in recent weeks because distributors have been discriminating against non-Saudis, who have been told that they must return later in the day after Saudis have been served. Furthermore, Ramadan is a peak season for domestic water consumption as families spend more time at home. A rise in demand for water leads to water cuts in many parts of the city, leaving residents scrambling to obtain a water truck from somewhere in order to fill the tanks in their buildings.

Salman Al-Qahtani said he was standing in the queue since after the Asr prayers.

"There are 400 people in front of me," said Salman Al-Qahtani as he was entering his second hour waiting in line to get a coupon for a water truck.

One angry woman was seen nearby banging with a rock on the locked door of the water distribution office trying to get the attention of somebody with authority.

After several tries, Arab News was able to speak to a person at the media relations department of the water authority, who provided the number of a high ranking official. Several tries to contact this official were unsuccessful as there was no answer.

Police officers say that more than four fistfights were reported yesterday as residents argued about who was first in line.

"I saw three fights before Duhur (noontime) prayers and saw a fourth going on a few minutes ago," said Muslih Al-Fani, resident of the Al-Samr District, east of Makkah highway. "There is no excuse for this confusion."

"We are calling on King Abdullah to fix this major problem," said Mohammed Al-Ulayan, a resident of Al-Basateen District. "This is the second time that I have come this Ramadan. The first time I waited 10 hours."

Al-Ulayan said that the second time round he decided to arrive early and so showed up at the center at 11 a.m. It took him five hours to get a water truck. Local reports say that more than 15 districts in Jeddah have been without water for over a month, sending many of these residents to the black market were -- for a premium fee -- they could have water delivered to their cisterns.

Near the Aziziya distribution center several full tanker trucks were parked: the black market for sweet water isn't far away. A vendor there who didn't want to be named told Arab News the price for a truck delivery was SR500 ($133). The rate at the nearby distribution center is SR115 ($30). This markup is encouraging some truck drivers to simply fill their trucks under the pretense of making a delivery and parking nearby to scalp the water to those willing to pay the price.

Abdul Aziz Ali, a student at the Al-Thagher High School, said most of his classmates are experiencing water shortages at home.

"Today our teacher asked the students suffering from lack of water at their homes to raise their hands. Only two students out of 30 didn't raise their hands," he said.

This could be the beginning of the end for the house of Saud. If the supply of drinking water does not keep up with the rapid growth in population, then I can forsee more and worse rioting This could eventually result in the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy.

Of course, if the house of Saud falls, then it will in all probability be replaced by a theocracy comparable to the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The idea of a Taliban-like regime with their hands on the revenues from Saudi Arabia's vast oil reserves hardly bears thinking about!

abuTrevor