Egypt's Fight for Nile Water Security

 

Having enough to drink is not the only way to address the water shortage. As seen by a recently constructed wastewater treatment plant in Egypt, which was partially financed by Kuwait Fund loans, it's also about preventing potentially generation-long economic fallout.
Egypt's population has increased to over 100 million in the last 60 years, yet like most of northeast Africa, it is still primarily dependent on the Nile for its water supply. Approximately 90% of Egypt's water use comes straight from the Nile. Given that 11 countries make up the Nile basin and that Egypt is essentially at the end of the supply chain, it can be a dangerous place to be.

What's more pressing is that Egypt has to contend with the uncomfortable possibility of the Nile diminishing as it grows. The longest river in Africa has seen a 170 m3 per second decrease in flow throughout the past 50 years. According to UN estimates, future droughts in eastern Africa might cause this flow to decline by a further 70% by the year 2100.
The North African nation, like many others, is bracing itself for a future without water. The wastewater treatment facility, which recycles wasted and contaminated water from the Greater Cairo area, provides a portion of the solution to an issue that affects a large area.

The crux of the matter
surprisingly, drinking water only makes up a small portion of what Egypt takes out of the Nile. The primary problem here, contrary to popular belief, isn't thirst, says Dr. Mohammad Sadeqi, senior engineering adviser at the Kuwait Fund. "The nation depends largely on the Nile for water supplies for both industrial and agricultural use, with the former using about 85% of the river's water resources."
Egypt's agricultural sector faces the possibility of a water scarcity, which could have catastrophic economic repercussions for industry, power generation, and food prices. The way Egypt handles its current predicament could have a significant effect on its future.

The future years will witness a greater focus on water in this region, according to Dr. Sadeqi, due to both population growth and the expansion of other countries that rely on the Nile. Egypt must now consider alternative resources in order to balance demand going forward.
There aren't many choices. Groundwater trapped in rock or silt and stored underground in aquifers is one possibility. Drawing from them may necessitate international collaboration because many of them are large and span numerous countries. This strategy has its own problems because these subterranean lakes won't refill rapidly because it doesn't rain much here, says Dr. Sadeqi.

Relying on unconventional sources, such saltwater desalination and the recycling of sewage, industrial, and agricultural wastes, is a more self-sufficient choice. The nation is making significant investments in the latter and has constructed a new water treatment plant northeast of Cairo with loans from the Kuwait Fund worth 135 million dinars, or more over $430 million. In addition to recycling dirty effluent from industry, sewage, and agriculture into something that may be used again, this has some intriguing side effects.

Build it and they will grow
Egypt is mostly desert, with only 4% of its land suitable for farming, and it is extremely vulnerable to climate change. Egypt requires fresh water sources in addition to land that is not impacted by salinization because of the declining Nile and rising sea levels that are eating away at the fertile Delta region, which makes up a third of the country's agricultural land.
Now add the funds from the Kuwait Fund, which are lessening the strain on the river. The project can supply farm-grade water to approximately 1,260 sq km (486 sq miles) of nearby agricultural land without taking a single extra drop from the Nile by diverting 50% of the wastewater in the Bahr al Baqar drainage basin, which runs between Greater Cairo and the northeastern wetland of Lake Manzala.

There are also social advantages. In addition to generating an estimated 100,000 jobs, the new wastewater treatment plant in Bahr al Baqar may also have the unintended benefit of drawing some residents of Cairo's urban area to a less developed area.

Cleaning up
The new wastewater facility is not just addressing Egypt's water balancing issue, but it is also addressing another environmental one. Approximately 190 km (118 miles) of open channels traverse the Bahr al Baqar drain. By the time it reaches Lake Manzala, close to Port Said, the drain has become severely contaminated.
According to Dr. Sadeqi, "agricultural, industry, and sewerage are the main sources of these contaminants." "This water instantly flowed into the biggest brackish lake in the area, which posed a risk." Fisheries are active in this region, and Manzala was gradually being contaminated, endangering the ecology.

Rebalancing this loss was also necessary because 50% of one of the lake's primary water sources had to be diverted. Dr. Sadeqi adds that gates are being constructed to let seawater in, providing Manzala with a clean water source that should help it flourish.

In many respects, the Bahr al Baqar project's environmental and socioeconomic benefits pale in contrast to the more significant issue of water security. Countries such as Egypt may face long-term political, economic, and humanitarian repercussions if they fail to diversify their water supplies. One could say that projects like the construction of the wastewater treatment facility in Bahr al Baqar are merely the first drop in a long journey.

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