Tunis: For decades, pilgrims have been supplied with water from the Zamzam Well by water carriers from Meccan families hired by the Ottoman sultan.
With this historical introduction, Dr Yasser bin Suleiman Shushu, Managing Director of the Zamazemah Company, began his presentation on the history and birth of this miraculous water source.
During a meeting at the company’s headquarters on Sunday with a delegation of journalists from several Muslim countries, the managing director presented photos, maps and an old model showing the Zamzam long before it was modified.
‘Our business, which was established about 43 years ago, is to provide Zamzam to pilgrims during the Hajj period,” he said.
He added: “For this year, we will produce about forty million bottles, which is about the same as the factory’s production for the current year.’
In a statement to TAP news agency, the Saudi official explained that the company operates a 100% automated system, using the most sophisticated sterilisation and filling mechanism
s for 200ml plastic bottles.
Referring to the old human methods of fetching water from the well on the esplanade of the Holy Mosque and storing it in earthenware containers, Yasser Shushu said that the holy water is now transported directly from the source to the company’s headquarters in large metal tanks carried by GPS-equipped trucks.
‘To ensure traceability, bottles of Zamzam water are marked with a QR code so that pilgrims can find out where the water comes from,’ he said, adding that a platform called ‘Zamzam’ has been developed to facilitate the purchase and delivery of water.
Regarding the means of distributing water to pilgrims, he said that some countries, such as Tunisia, receive their quotas directly, adding that there are other means of distribution in the hotels where pilgrims stay, which are linked to the official ‘Nusuk’ platform.
The ‘Zamazemah’ company has made 6 service centres available for this Hajj season and has drawn up an action plan to supply one million 800,000 pilgrims with Zam
zam water.
Around 11,000 Tunisians are performing Hajj this year.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse