Source for ZamZam Well
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Do we know the source that is feeding the Zam Zam well or is this phenomena an enigma?
Thanks
The source you can only find in hedith but technical information is as mentiond below.
Technical information
The Zamzam Well is 30 meters deep, and the water level is 3.23 meters below the surface. A pumping test at 8000 liters/second for more than a 24 hour period showed a drop in water level from 3.23 meters below surface to 12.72 meters and then to 13.39 meters, after which the water level stopped receding. When pumping stopped, the water level recovered to 3.9 meters below surface only 11 minutes later. This data shows that the aquifer feeding the well seems to recharge from rock fractures in neighboring mountains around Mecca -
The source you can only find in hedith but technical information is as mentiond below.
Technical information
The Zamzam Well is 30 meters deep, and the water level is 3.23 meters below the surface. A pumping test at 8000 liters/second for more than a 24 hour period showed a drop in water level from 3.23 meters below surface to 12.72 meters and then to 13.39 meters, after which the water level stopped receding. When pumping stopped, the water level recovered to 3.9 meters below surface only 11 minutes later. This data shows that the aquifer feeding the well seems to recharge from rock fractures in neighboring mountains around MeccaAfter being in use for many centuries, it disappeared after the Bani Jurham, a tribe of Makkah in whom Ismael was married, filled it up with soil before leaving Makkah. It remained obliterated and untraced for quite a few centuries till its location was disclosed in a dream to Abdul Mutallib, the grandfather of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in the first half of the 6th century AD, that is about 540 AD. Hazrat Abdul Mutallib, in spite of opposition from the local leaders and chieftains of Makkah, excavated the ground with the help of his only son, Haris, till he found the well (in all, he was blessed with ten sons, but nine were borne after the rediscovery of Zam Zam).
The well?s dimension of 18ft x 12ft x 5ft of water depth was measured in 1971 by Tariq Hussain, a Pakistani chemical engineer who was then working with the Saline Water Desalination Corporation at the Jeddah plant. He was assigned to take a water sample from the well of Zam Zam for chemical and biological examination, and to disprove the claim of an Egyptian doctor that the water of Zam Zam is contaminated with sewage leakages from Makkah?s sewage system. The dimensions measured by Tariq Hussain in 1971 are the same to which the well was excavated by Hazrat Abdul Mutallib, and has remained unaltered for 1,400 years.
The city of Makkah is located in a valley with hard, granite mountains on all sides, and the Haram Sharif (Masjid-ul-Haram) located at its lowest point. There is about 50 to 100ft deep sandy silt formation underlain by igneous rocks. The well of Zam Zam is located in this sand/silt formation and its water level is about 40 to 50ft below the natural ground level.
The source of the well of Zam Zam has been traced to an aquifer extending out to the hills of Taif. This was accidentally discovered in June 1982, while a tunnel on the Safa side of Haram Sharif was being excavated. While excavating the tunnel roof, water profusely started flowing, so much so that the contractor was confronted with a difficult situation. At the same time, the flow into the Zam Zam well turned slack and for the first time in 1,400 years, the well almost ran dry. His Majesty, King Fahad of Saudi Arabia, immediately appointed a committee to look into the matter that included Dr Adnan Niazi, professor of Geo-Physics at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
The water tests showed that the tunnel water and the water in the well of Zam Zam were the same and therefore it was confirmed that the tunnelling operation had ruptured the aquifer bringing water to the well. Immediate repairs were undertaken and as the rupture was closed, the Zam Zam flow was restored. A visit to the tunnel saw almost a flood coming out of the ruptured roof of the tunnel in the month of Ramadan in June 1982. The well of Zam Zam used to have a manual system of drawing water, till the early 1950s. In those days, the peak discharge drawn during the Haj season would just suffice the number of Hajis not exceeding a hundred thousand.
Today, Hajis exceed 2.2 million and in addition, the Zam Zam water is being pumped to Masjid-i-Nabvi in Madinah through a 450km-long pipeline from Makkah. The installed pump capacity today is 3 cft/sec (1,350 gallon/minute).
The well of Zam Zam has been in operation since the last 1,450 years at a stretch. Till an electric motor and pump was installed in the late 1940s or the early 50s, the discharge never exceeded 0.05 cft/sec (about 22.5 gallons per minute). The discharge from the well since then is on a constant rise with an increase in the number of Hajis. It has now reached 3cft/sec (1,346 gallons per minute) and runs constantly for hours per day, and sometimes without stopping for days.
Today, Zam Zam water is supplied to 2.2 million Hajis during the Haj season and to Madinah. Any open well in the world, after a few years, suffers from the growth of algae, making water unpalatable and causing taste and odour problems. Here, Zam Zam has been operational for fourteen centuries without any biological or algae growth, and remains in use without any kind of treatment (recently chlorination is being done by Saudi authorities).
In Zam Zam there lies a sign for those who seek the truth about Islam, and the truthfulness of Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him); of Allah, the Creator of the laws of hydraulics and ground-water flow and the well of Zam Zam
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Since when did holy water need chlorine?
The traditional story is that Jibreel tapped his heel on the well and it gushed forth for Abraham's partner.