Dr. Sayed Ismail, Deputy Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, recently chaired an extensive meeting to discuss the optimal use of treated wastewater for afforestation projects, collaborating with officials from the Ministries of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Resources, Environment, and Local Development. The meeting supports the Ministry of Housing’s plan to transition from simply safe disposal of treated wastewater to the sustainable reuse of this resource in ways that align with environmental and societal regulations.
Present at the meeting were Dr. Osama Hamdy, Advisor to the Minister of Housing for Monitoring, Projects, and Utilities, alongside representatives from the Ministries of Water Resources, Environment, Agriculture, and Local Development, as well as officials from the Regulatory Authority for Drinking Water and Wastewater, the Holding Company for Drinking Water and Wastewater, and the Urban Communities Authority.
Dr. Ismail opened the meeting by emphasizing the importance of utilizing available water resources, including treated wastewater, and establishing a cohesive framework across entities. He noted that the state is committed to covering the cost of secondary treatment while ensuring that operational and maintenance costs are optimized according to service standards.
Officials from the Regulatory Authority for Drinking Water and Wastewater, along with the Holding Company for Drinking Water and Wastewater, presented a rehabilitation and expansion plan for 132 treatment plants, highlighting the potential of afforestation sites with adjacent desert land, the areas allocated for afforestation by other entities and investors, and industrial zone forests. Some treatment plants are suitable only for disposal in afforestation, while others have been upgraded from secondary to tertiary treatment to support these initiatives.
Aligned with Egypt’s presidential initiative to plant 100 million trees and develop future green communities, Dr. Ismail underscored the need to prioritize treated wastewater use in canals and waterways to support the water balance and identify suitable locations and spaces for afforestation, in line with Egypt’s 2015 Code 501 governing treated wastewater use in agriculture.
The discussion also covered investment incentives for private sector involvement in afforestation projects, including the minimum leasing terms for forest use and suitable crop types, soil, and climate conditions for the use of treated wastewater.
Dr. Ismail concluded by reaffirming the importance of continuous cooperation between government bodies to maximize the benefits of treated wastewater based on the needs and geographic conditions of each region.