The Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Atti, has announced the construction of several water treatment plants in the Sinai. The contract for the project has been entrusted to the Armed Forces Engineering Authority (AFEA).
In Egypt, water is becoming a scarce commodity, especially for agriculture. The Egyptian government is trying to meet the challenge. A month ago, the country inaugurated a dam in Assiout, Upper Egypt, built by a subsidiary of Vinci. This dam produces electricity, but also provides water for irrigation.
To further improve irrigation capacity, the authorities are planning to build several treatment plants east of the Suez Canal in the Sinai. According to Mohamed Abdel Atti, the facilities would treat domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater.
500,000 beneficiaries in Sinai
For an agricultural development, and in particular the development of cereal and citrus fruit cultivation, Egypt has acquired a 106 km long drain that has been channelling agricultural wastewater since 1914, called Bahr al-Baqar. The longest part of the drain is in the governorate of Sharqia, further east of Sinai.
In the 1970s, the region’s sewer systems and industrial water were connected to the drain as part of these waters flow directly into nature, more precisely into Lake Manzala. Covering 180,000 hectares, the drain is located in the governorate of Port-Saïd. Its location was the subject of a study by the ecological engineer Mamdouh Salem Seraj. “The drain currently poses a threat because it contains organic substances, fertilisers and pesticides that have a significant impact on the marine environment, causing an ecological imbalance,” the ecologist reported in 2015.
Afrik21.africa reported on the Egyptian authorities having decided to build a water treatment plant near the lake. “The treatment will be carried out in accordance with advanced safety standards,” said Ragab Abdel-Azeem, First Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation. The wastewater treatment plant will be one of the largest in North Africa with a production capacity of 5 million m3 per day and the treated water will be used for irrigation. AFEA estimates that it will irrigate more than 160,000 hectares, benefiting nearly 500,000 people.
