Egypt expands recycling projects to face water scarcity

The Egyptian government is working to expand water reuse projects, as it is “one of the countries in the world that suffers most from water scarcity,” according to the description of the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Dr. Hani Sweilem, who inaugurated a new plant in Port Said Governorate, within the water treatment system of the Bahr El Baqar drain.

According to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources, the main Al-Salam station in Port Said governorate comes as part of the Egyptian state's efforts to face water challenges, by implementing major projects in the field of reusing agricultural drainage water. With the aim of agricultural expansion to achieve food security and combat desertification.

Egypt suffers from a deficit in its water resources, as “the needs are estimated at 114 billion cubic meters of water, while the resources amount to 74 billion cubic meters,” according to official data. To overcome this crisis, the government has embarked on implementing a strategy to manage and meet water demand until 2037, with investments of approximately $50 million, which include building seawater desalination plants and wastewater recycling plants with triple treatment, in addition to implementing a transformation project for modern agricultural irrigation.