Prospects of Water Reuse in Egypt: El-Sayed M. A. Rassoul
Prospects of Water Reuse in Egypt: El-Sayed M. A. Rassoul
Prospects of Water Reuse in Egypt: El-Sayed M. A. Rassoul
El-Sayed M. A. Rassoul
ABSTRACT
In many locations where the available supply of fresh water has become inadequate to
meet water needs, it is clear that the once-used water collected from communities and
municipalities must be viewed not as a waste to be disposed off but as a resource that
must be reused. Because of health and safety concerns, water reuse applications are
mostly restricted to non-potable uses such as landscape and agriculture irrigation.
Plans are proceeding slowly towards groundwater recharge for repelling saltwater
intrusion and towards the reuse in non-potable industrial applications (e.g. boiler water
and cooling towers…).
The ministry of water resources and irrigation in Egypt (MWRI) has over the past
decades, thoroughly considered the issue of reusing drainage water through mixing it
with fresh water. The criteria for mixing are based on the sustainability of the blend for
irrigation of all crops. As a result, the volume of drainage water reused for irrigation
has increased from 2.8 bcm in 84/85 to 5.2 bcm in 99/2000 and is planned to reach a
value of 8.3 bcm per year by the year 2017. The reuse of domestic and industrial
wastewater is estimated to be about 1.5 bcm/y by the year 2025, while the estimated
reuse of drainage water will hardly exceed 10 bcm/y. The modest value of the reused
wastewater in Egypt is mainly due to the lack of cost effective and efficient treatment
systems.
INTRODUCTION
It was stated that 10 out of the 23 Middle East and North African countries (MENA)
consume more than 100% of their annual renewable freshwater resources [2] MENA
region with about 5% of the world's population has less than 1% of the world's
renewable freshwater [3]. It is estimated that because of the population growth and
increase in water demand, as a regional average, there will be a drop of almost 50% in
annual per capita renewable water between 1995 and 2025 in the countries of MENA
[4]. At the same time, pollution from domestic, industrial and agricultural sources is
degrading the quality of these same water resources. If the present economic activities
continue and agricultural practices are not radically updated, the future water shortage
will surpass crisis proportion and may produce severe social, economic and political
disruption and cause conflicts or even wars [5].
Several trials had been made where wastewaters were successfully used during the last
decades. Selected examples of historical development of water reuse in different
countries are given in Table 1, [1].
Tenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC10 2006, Alexandria, Egypt 563
Figure 1. The role of engineered treatment, reclamation and reuse facilities in the
cycling of water through the hydrologic cycle
564 Tenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC10 2006, Alexandria, Egypt
The major pathways of water reuse include irrigation, industrial use, surface water
replenishment and groundwater recharge. Water is a renewable resource within the
hydraulic cycle. The water recycled by natural systems provides a clean and safe
resource which is then deteriorated by different levels of pollution depending on how,
and to what extent it is used. Once used, however, water can be reclaimed and used
again for different beneficial uses. The quality of the once-used water and the specific
type of reuse define the levels of subsequent treatment needed, as well as the
associated treatment costs. The basic types of reuse for domestic and industrial
wastewater are in Fig. 2 [12].
According to the MWRI estimates, the reused water from domestic and industrial
applications will reach a value of 1.5 bcm/y in the year 2025, which is less than 20%
of the share of domestic and industrial water used.
Tenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC10 2006, Alexandria, Egypt 565
The total irrigation requirements for fresh water in Egypt in the year 1999 [15] was
estimated to be 52.0 bcm/y under surface irrigation. At that time the seasonal water
consumptive by crop land reached 29.9 bcm/y. Accordingly it may be concluded that
the volume of drainage water – agricultural wastewater – is about 22 bcm/y, from
which and according to [16] only 5.2 bcm was reused in the year 99/2000.
According to [16] the ministry of water resources and irrigation is undertaking major
projects for horizontal and expansion to divert considerable amounts of drainage water
reused by the year 2017 to be 8.3 bcm/y. The potential to increase this reused amount
depends on many factors among which are the quality of the drainage water, the salt
balance of the Delta and the tolerance of the cultivated crops. Accordingly one may
assume that by the year 2025 the amount of reused drainage water will hardly exceed
10 bcm/y, which is again much less than the available drainage water for reuse.
It may be worthy here to mention that the introduction of new irrigation technologies
such as sprinkler or drip may reduce the water irrigation demand by about 15 and 25%
respectively. In other words according to the available data in 1999 the use of either
sprinkler and/or drip irrigation systems can save 8 and 13 bcm/y [15], respectively. It
is needless to say that the introduction of new irrigation technologies although will
save a considerable amount of fresh water needed for irrigation it will at the same time
lead to a decrease in the respective drainage water as a result.
By the year 2025 the population of Egypt is expected to be about 90 million, thus the
available fresh water per capita will be about 600 m3/y [17]. Under such circumstances
every drop of water must count and sustainable management of water resources can
only be achieved if the water resources and wastewater management policies come
together in addressing the water cycle in a holistic manner. In order to do so certain
measures ought to be taken in consideration. The most important of them are stated
below:
• Higher quality water should not be used for a purpose that can tolerate a lower
grade water. In such case fresh water should be minimally used as a
transportation medium for excreta.
• The criteria for wastewater treatment intended for reuse in irrigation differ
considerably from treatment systems developed in response of the adverse
conditions caused by the discharge of raw effluents to water bodies, while it is
intended that pathogens are removed to the maximum extent possible, some of
the biodegradable organic matter and most of the nutrients available in the raw
wastewater need to be maintained. In this respect it is advisable to follow the
guides published in the FAO irrigation and drainage paper No. 47, 1985 [18].
• Water reuse standards must protect both public health and the environment and
must be suitable for end reuse objectives and the method of application.
• Wastewater reuse projects should be designed as integral part of the overall
wastewater network and water resources plan.
566 Tenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC10 2006, Alexandria, Egypt
CONCLUSION
1. Sustainable management of water resources and wastewater management
policies should come together in addressing the water cycle.
2. Wastewater production is the only potential water source in Egypt which will
increase as the population grows and the demand on fresh water increases.
3. The total volume of the agricultural wastewater in the year 1999 was about
22 bcm from which only 5.2 bcm were used.
4. The modest values of water reuse in Egypt are mainly due to the lack of cost
effective and efficient treatment systems for wastewaters.
5. Adoption of new irrigation technologies – sprinkler and drip irrigation – will
reduce the demand for water by about 15.5% and 25% respectively; on the
other hand it will reduce the total volume of agricultural wastewater
considerably.
Tenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC10 2006, Alexandria, Egypt 567
RECOMMENDATIONS
All the items mentioned in the paragraph titled "Prospects of water reuse in Egypt"
should be taken in consideration by who will be in charge of water reuse issues in
Egypt.
REFERENCES
1. Metcalf and Eddy, Wastewater Engineering, Treatment and Reuse. McGraw-Hill,
4th edition, 2003.
2. Irrigation in the Near East in Figures, (FAO water report 9, 1997).
3. The World Bank press release No. 96/49/5. Washington DC, the World Bank
Group, 1996.
4. Bakir, H.A. Water conservation, wastewater reuse and pollution control, Amman,
WHO centre for environmental health activities.
5. K. Khosh-Chasm. Water-Conscious development and Eastern Mediterranean
Health Journal, Vol. 6, No. 4, 2000.
6. S.S. Al-Salem, Overview of the water and wastewater reuse crisis in the Eastern
Mediterranean region. Eastern Mediterranean health Journal, Vol. 7, No. 6, 2001.
7. Engelman R. et al. People in the Balance: Population and natural resources at the
turn of the millennium. Washington DC, Population Action international, 2000.
8. Hamed Bakir, the 2nd Asian conference of water and wastewater management 8-9
May 2001, Tehran, Iran.
9. Hamed Bakir, Amman – Jordan, CEHA, March 2001, Amman – Jordan.
10. World Bank. From Scarcity to security, averting a water crisis in the Middle East
and North Africa. World Bank, Washington DC, 1977.
11. Asano T. and A.D. Levine, Wastewater Reclamation, Recycling and Reuse.
Water Science and Technology, Vol. 33, No. 10-11, 1996.
12. I. Hespanol, Wastewater as a resource, chapter 4. WHO/UNEP, 1997.
13. Abu Zeid, M. and Rady M.A. (1991) Egypt's resources management and policies.
Comprehensive water management: Policy workshop. World Bank.
14. M. A. Keshk: About Land and water in Egypt. Univ. of El-Menia Press, 1994.
15. Ainer, N.G. et al: A new concept of rationalization of irrigation water use in
Egypt. 3rd conference of "On-Farm Irrigation and agro climatology" January 25-
27, 1999.
16. S. Abdel-Gawad: Agricultural drainage reuse policy in Egypt; conservation and
challenges, MWRI. (Personal communication with Dr. Hesham Kandil), Sept.
2005.
17. Engelman R., and Le Roy P. Sustaining water: an update. Washington DC,
Population Action International, 1995.
18. Ursula I. Blumenthal et al. Guidelines for the microbial quality of treated
wastewater used in irrigation. Bulletin of WHO, 2000, 78 (9).
19. Hedberg T. (1999) Attitudes to traditional and alternative sanitary systems. Water
Science and Technology 39 (5) 9-16.
20. US. EPA (1992a), Manual - Guidelines for water reuse EPA / 625 / R-
92/004.U.S.