Jeddah’s new drinking water and wudu stations draw inspiration from the past

Four new drinking water and wudu stations have been launched in Jeddah by the King Abdul Aziz Endowment of Ain Al-Aziziah, drawing their inspiration from the city’s historical water supply methods.
Al-Bazan, which translates as water tanks, is based on Jeddah’s previous water distribution system.
Tanks were distributed across the city’s old town before there was a supply network in place, making them the primary water source for the people of Jeddah.
In the past, before the endowment was established, Jeddah families received their water from a man called “saggah” (water man) who sourced it from the city’s bazans and traveled around districts delivering it.

“The main idea behind this project is to supply people with water and to remind them of the tremendous transformation that the city has gone through,” Sakhr Al-Asmari, head of public relations at the King Abdul Aziz Endowment of Ain Al-Aziziah, told Arab News.

“The endowment targets several vital places in Jeddah to provide them with the tanks, the waterfront was one of the first and (there are) more to come soon.”
The modern bazans are in different areas across the waterfront and will supply clean water for people to drink and perform wudu. They are aimed at beautifying public facilities and resemble the main pipelines from the valleys.
The endowment was instrumental in providing free and clean drinking water to Jeddah residents, with its infrastructure being the primary source of water until 1979, when modern solutions based on seawater desalination became the new primary water source for Jeddah and supplied several regions in Saudi Arabia.
“The endowment is working in full swing on some watering projects, such as finding watering stations and desalination water wells in remote villages throughout the region and neighboring provinces to achieve the goal of the founder King Abdul Aziz and to fulfill one of Vision 2030’s components,” Al-Asmari said.