Good news for the people of Alexandria. The government wants to improve wastewater management in this port city, located on the shores of the Mediterranean. The Egyptian Central Authority for Drinking Water and Wastewater (CAPWW) will soon launch nine wastewater treatment projects. Hassan El-Far, Director of CAPWW, said that 3,179 billion Egyptian pounds ($191.2 million) are available for the implementation of these projects.
There is currently little detail on these projects but they will treat 73,000 m3 of wastewater per day. The Alexandria Sanitary and Drainage Company (ASDCO) estimates that they should benefit more than 460,000 people out of a population of 5.2 million. The objective is to clean up the city of Alexandria, and above all to prevent waste water from flowing into the Mediterranean Sea.
Other projects in progress in Alexandria
The Eastern Purification Treatment Plant, a wastewater treatment plant that serves several regions in eastern Egypt, is being upgraded in parallel. The work is being carried out by the French company Suez International and the Egyptian company Arab Contractors Company and Engineer (ArabCo).
The latter will enhance the capacity of the wastewater treatment plant by building four new tanks 36 m in diameter and 23 m high. They will allow the collection of sludge from wastewater treatment. Suez and ArabCo will also build a boiler building, a gas tank and a gas treatment unit.
According to ArabCo, the work should be completed in two phases. Initially, the focus will be on improving the performance and increasing the efficiency of the plant, as well as on treating the sludge produced by the plant with biogas, while the second phase will aim to reduce the environmental impact of wastewater treatment products. Completion of this work is expected by 2020. At that time, the Eastern Purification Treatment Plant should be able to treat 800,000 m3 of water per day.
Waste from wastewater treatment will be used to produce biogas for electricity generation. The project will cost $58.3 million in investment.
Jean Marie Takouleu