Overview on water reuse in Egypt : present and future

Egypt is extremely dependent on the River Nile, in fact, 97% of the population lives on 4% of the land, around the river
Nile. The renewable water resources were 2189 m3/capita/year in 1966. This will drop to 500 m3/capita/year by the
year 2025. Effluents from municipalities have been used in Egypt since 1922 in sandy soil areas like Al-Gabal Al-Asfar
and Abou-Rawash. Currently, 0.7 billion m³ (BCM) per year of treated wastewater is being used in irrigation, of which
0.26 BCM is secondary treated and 0.44 BCM is primary treated wastewater. The agricultural sector is utilizing about
86% of the available water supplies. The drainage water from agriculture is collected, by an extensive drainage network.
Currently about 5.5 BCM of drainage water are being reused after mixing with fresh water. This amount is expected to
increase up to 9.6 BCM by the year 2017. In general, treated wastewater use is of tremendous potential importance to
Egypt. [authors abstract]