Al-Musk Lake

{{short description|Sewage lake near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia}}

File:Musk Lake 1.jpg

Al-Musk Lake ({{langx|ar|بحيرة المسك}}) was an artificial sewage lake east of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a city that (at the time) lacked an underground sewage system.{{cite news |last= Al-Sharif|first=Asma |date= December 7, 2009|title= Jeddah floods recede, sewage lake still threatens |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-floods-idUKTRE5B61HC20091207 |work=Reuters |location= |access-date=October 8, 2023}} The lake was established by the Municipality of Jeddah in the 1990s.{{cite news |last=Al-Tamimi |first=Sultan |date= October 17, 2010|title=Jeddah's infamous lake drained |url= https://www.arabnews.com/node/357971 |work=Arab News |location= |access-date=October 8, 2023}} Over time, the lake reached dangerous levels, and in 2005, a concrete precautionary dam was erected to prevent spillover into the city.{{cite news |last=Al-Sharif|first=Asma |date=December 4, 2008 |title=Sewage lake threatens Jeddah |url= https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/environment/sewage-lake-threatens-jeddah-1.553828?outputType=amp |work= The National|location= |access-date=October 8, 2023}}

In 2010, the lake was drained by Saudi Arabia's National Water Company, acting under government instructions. Despite having been drained of sewage, a 2017 scientific study concluded that the site remained environmentally contaminated.{{Cite journal |last=Rashed |first=M. |last2=Niyazi |first2=B. |date=June 2017 |title=Environmental impact assessment of the former Al-Musk Lake wastewater dumpsite using electromagnetic induction technique |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41748-017-0010-1 |journal=Earth Systems and Environment |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |doi=10.1007/s41748-017-0010-1 |issn=2509-9426|url-access=subscription }}