Egypt to complete 19 desalination plants within 18 months

CAIRO – 22 August 2020: Within 18 months, 19 desalination plants worth a total of LE11 billion and whose total daily production is 550,000 cubic meters will be inaugurated.    

Those will be built in Nabq, Ras Sidr, Abou Zanima, Dahab, Nuieba, Arish 1, Arish 2, Arish 3, Arish 4, Sheikh Zowayed 1, Sheikh Zowayed 2, Sidi Barani expansions, western Port Said, Dabaa, Marina 1, Marina 2, Marbella, and New Mansoura.  

The projects are constructed within a strategy to increase Egypt's water resources, and secure water for irrigation. The value of the strategy – launched in 2020 - is LE435 billion, and is scheduled to be accomplished by 2050.

Egypt is expected to have 65 desalination plants distributed among six governorates that are Matrouh, South Sinai, Suez, Ismailiyah, North Sinai, and the Red Sea. The total daily production of those is 750,000 cubic meters.

Matrouh is planned to house 14 plants having a daily capacity of 250,000 cubic meters, while the Red Sea is expected to have 18 plants with a capacity of 109,000 cubic meters per day. North Sinai and South Sinai will be home to 21 and nine plants whose capacity per day is 20,000 cubic meters and 75,000 cubic meters, respectively. Only one plant will be established in Ismailiyah, and two others in Suez.

The government is partnering up with the private sector to build four desalination plants in Matrouh's Hamam district, and three others in the Red Sea's towns of Safaga, al-Qusair, and Marsa Alam.

Deputy Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Areas Sayed Ismail explained that LE135 billion are allocated to the construction of desalination plants, and LE300 are dedicated for wastewater projects. The plan will be completed over six phases. The duration of each is five years.

The official highlighted that 223 two-phase and three-phase wastewater treatment plants are being built across the country to ensure the optimum use of water resources. Furthermore, rain water harnessing projects are being implemented and studies.

Until present, 1,131 new drinking water and wastewater projects worth LE13.6 billion have been completed across the country. Moreover, existing plants and networks have been rehabilitated at a cost of LE8.7 billion.

The percentages of the coverage of the drinking water network and the wastewater network are 98 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

Major Wastewater Treatment Plants

Yellow Mountain Plant in Qalyoubeya spans over 78 feddans, and produces 2.5 million cubic meters daily. However, the target is 3.5 million cubic meters per day. The project serves Ain Al Sira, Maadi, Dar Al Salam, Al Amiriyah, Hadayek Al Qoba, and Al Marg.

Sinai's Mahsama Plant was built in 15 months on 150 feddans at a cost of LE15 billion. The wastewater is transported to the plant through a siphon extending beneath the Suez Canal. In turn, the plant produces one million cubic meters per day to irrigate 60,000 feddans.

Bahr Al Baqar Plant's production is planned at 5.7 million cubic meters daily. The water will be used to irrigate and reclaim 330,000 feddans in Sinai, and irrigate 70,000 feddans in Sahl Rina and Eastern Qantara in Ismailiyah. The cost of the project is LE16 billion financed through a loan granted by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD).

As per the new deal, the fund will inject $284 million for the second phase after it had financed the first with $230 million.