In a mega-project Saudi Arabia, which has no natural rivers or lakes, plans to develop the world’s biggest drinking water project by creating an underground river.
The river will be four meters deep, 11 meters wide, and a whopping 12,000 km long, surpassing the longest river in the world, the Nile, which is 6,650 km long.
According to Seen, a documentary series by Saudi journalist Ahmad Al Shugairi, the river will feature anti-corrosion pipes each of which will be 2.25 meters in diameter.
Ahmad acknowledged that the creation of underground rivers involved significant effort but provided access to water in desert areas.
Although initially taken for granted, Al Shugairi expressed gratitude for potable water in their homes and thanked those who contributed to the provision of water. He stated that in a few years, the freshwater supplied by the pipes will cover a considerable distance. He also remarked that the project will be twice the length of the Nile.
Ahmad claimed that the pipes presently installed under Saudi cities measure approximately 126,000 km and would have a circumference three times that of the Earth if they were to encircle it. The water produced per day by Saudi desalination plants is estimated to be 9.4 million cubic meters.
He also noted that if the water produced from Saudi desalination plants was to be distributed among the global population, each person will receive two gallons or two bottles.
The government-run Saline Water Conversion Corporation is the world’s biggest producer of desalinated water, producing a total of 1006.6 million cubic meters per year.
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