Facts about the Fountain of King Fahd

The Fountain of King Fahd is of the most significant landmarks in Jeddah, it is located in front of the city beaches on the west coast of Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. We are going to learn some facts about it in quick points.

- It is the tallest fountain in the world, as it reaches a height of 312 meter or the equivalent of 1024 feet, making it even longer than the Eiffel Tower itself!

- The second tallest fountain in the world is the Gateway Geyser in St. Louis in Illinois in the United States, as length reaches up to 192 meter i.e. 630 feet, or nearly half the height of King Fahd fountain.

-  The construction of the fountain began in the early eighties, and it began to run in the same structure of today in 1985. The fountain was created in the style of "Jet d'Eau" fountain in Geneva in Switzerland, which is considered its most famous landmark. It was built at the height of the Statue of Liberty which makes it one of the longest fountains of the world.

- Water is pumped in a powerful and rapid way up to 233 miles per hour, and the weight of air borne mass can reach about 16 thousand kilogram. Since Jeddah Fountain uses sea water in the water pump, corrosion and friction were the main challenges, so the pumps were placed in a special pit that is cleaned on a regular basis to tackle dirt that may inhibit the growth of marine life. Before water reaches the pump, it passes through a number of filters for purification of dirt, sand and organic matter.

The fountain is illuminated by more than 500 intense glowing spotlights at night designed to withstand the fall of thousands of tons of water from very high altitudes. The only time in which the fountain is fully closed more than a day is during the its annual maintenance, and this takes approximately three weeks.