Men sell sewage as drinking water in Saudi Arabia

Riyad - Police in Saudi Arabia are searching for drinking water tanks that have been filled with sewage water by con-men hoping to turn a quick profit.

Riyadh is under enormous pressure to meet the city's inhabitants demand for water. The situation is exacerbated by persistent disruptions in Riyahd's water network. According to a report in Emirates 247 con-men have taken advantage of the situation by stealing sewage water from pipes and filling up tanks advertising "drinking water." The despicable crime was spotted by a Saudi woman who saw expatriate workers siphoning the sewage through pipes. The woman said "When they glanced at me and saw that I had phoned the police, they stopped siphoning out water, got in their tanks and fled." She managed to photograph them in the act before they drove off. Saudi Arabia is often plagued with illegal water scams. Controversy broke out in 2011 when unscrupulous profiteers were caught peddling fake zamzam water, purportedly as the holiest water of Mecca. The criminals disregarded the risk to public health in selling unhygienic water in their efforts to make a quick profit. Doctors warned that fake zamzam water could cause diseases including typhoid and diarrhoea. The latest scam of selling sewage as drinking water could bring untold heath risks.