Treating agricultural wastewater in Egypt…a comprehensive strategy towards sustainable development

Agricultural wastewater treatment projects

In light of the increasing need to maximize the benefit from every drop of water, the Egyptian state had no choice but to adopt radical projects that accommodate challenges and provide innovative solutions. Hence the trend towards establishing giant agricultural wastewater treatment plants, combining huge operational capacity and advanced technologies. The most prominent of these stations are:

Bahr El Baqar Drainage Water Treatment Plant

The Bahr al-Baqar drain water treatment plant is a unique model in the world, with a production capacity of 5.6 million cubic meters per day. It was built south of the Port Said Tunnels on an area of 155 acres, and its production is used to reclaim 456 thousand acres, by recycling agricultural, industrial and sanitary wastewater. The plant has obtained the Guinness Book of World Records certificate asThe largest treatment plant in the world. The world.

New Delta Treatment Plant

In the Al-Hammam area on the northern coast, the newDelta treatment plant was completed with a capacity of 7.5 million cubic meters per day, achieving world records. The most important of these numbers is that it is the largest in terms of operational capacity, and serves the 362,000-acre reclamation project in the western Delta, and contributes to the establishment of new agricultural communities.

Al Mahsama Station

As forThe third station is Al-Mahsama station, which has a production capacity of one million cubic meters per day, and is used to reclaim 50 thousand acres in Sinai. It was classified as the project of the year – globally – by the American “Engineering News-Record” magazine in 2020; Which reflects the international appreciation for this distinguished engineering model.

How does the state employ projects to achieve sustainable development?

The state is moving forward in employing these giant projects to reshape the population map away from the valley and delta, by reclaiming hundreds of thousands of acres, and establishing integrated agricultural and residential communities that provide decent living opportunities and support social justice by expanding the scope of benefiting from development over a broader geographical extent.

On the economic level, agricultural wastewater treatment plants contribute to providing approximately 40,000 direct and indirect job opportunities, in addition to their role in supporting agricultural expansion plans and reducing dependence on importing water-intensive crops. Estimates indicate that Egypt’s imports of food commodities are equivalent to about 33.5 billion cubic meters of water annually, which highlights the importance of these projects as a pivotal pillar for enhancing water and food security.

From an environmental standpoint, these projects constitute a decisive line of defense against pollution resulting from the discharge of untreated water. They also contribute to protecting underground reservoirs from salty seawater leakage, and improve the quality of the environment in reclaimed areas, thus enhancing the chances of sustainable agricultural expansion.

With this integration, agricultural wastewater treatment projects embody one of the most prominent arms of Egypt’s Vision 2030, by promoting the right to water and food, and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goal (6) related to clean water, and Goal (2) related to eliminating hunger, in addition to environmental goals related to preserving ecosystems.

Integration with state efforts to rationalize consumption

Remediation projects alone are not sufficient to achieve water security, but rather come within a more comprehensive system adopted by the state to maximize the use of available resources. This system includes expanding the application of modern irrigation systems, modernizing drainage networks, encouraging smart agriculture, and other policies aimed at reducing water loss and raising the efficiency of use in various sectors.

In this context, agricultural wastewater treatment projects stand out as a pivotal link in the recycling chain, as they enable water to be recycled instead of losing it, and re-pumped into reclamation and agricultural production projects, which increases the efficiency of the entire water system and reduces pressure on natural resources.

In conclusion, theThe Earth Guards Foundation confirms that agricultural wastewater treatment projects represent one of the most mature manifestations of the integrated environmental vision that Egypt is pursuing, not only to confront the challenges of water security, but also to reshape the relationship between humans and natural resources on the basis of sustainability. What has been achieved on the ground is a role model for water management within a turbulent global climate, and reflects a clear political will to establish environmental justice and activate the right to clean water and food, in line with the goals of sustainable development and Egypt’s Vision 2030.