Egypt

The country highlights the following figures: 1) the proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services increased from 90%in 2015 to 96.9% in 2019; 2) Proportion of population benefiting from proper management of sanitation services, including handwashing facilities with soap and water increased from 50% in 2015 to 66.2% in 2019; 3) %age of treated wastewater to total wastewater from 50% in 2015 to 68.7% in 2019.

Egypt reported its exerting efforts to address water demands through the efficient management of its limited water resources, which comes at a critical time of an increasing need driven by the growing population, intensive agricultural activity, and various pressing challenges.

About 90% of Egypt’s water supply is dependent on the Nile River, with an annual share of around 55 m3 billion, not changed since 1954. The rest of the supply, about 0.5 m3 billion, comes from non-renewable subterranean water.

This leaves the country at a water deficit as it annually needs at least 90 m3 billion to satisfy national needs. Egypt’s annual per capita share of water declined to 570 m3 in 2018 which is below the international standards at 1000 m3.

Thus, Egypt is vulnerable to changes in upstream conditions, the most pressing of which is currently Ethiopia’s plans to fill the basin of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which largely threatens Egypt’s already strained water supply.

The government devised a national plan to rationalize water and optimize the use of available resources through 2037 at USD 50 billion to provide alternative water sources, through desalination in coastal governorates, the establishment of groundwater extraction stations and the re-use of treated water. The plan also introduces efficient and technological irrigation systems as agriculture consumes the vast majority of Egypt’s water supply

52 wastewater treatment plants are under construction in Upper Egypt, with a capacity of 418 million m3 per year.

The largest wastewater treatment plant in the world was announced in 2020, the Bahr al-Baqar water station, with a capacity of 5 million m3 per day. Treated water from the plant will be used to cultivate and farm around 342 thousand acres as part of the Sinai Peninsula Development Plan.

Read the full report here: VNR_Report_Egypt

*The information reflected on this page has been taken directly from the official VNR received from this Member State. The information does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations.