The water supply and sanitation in Egypt is shaped by both significant achievements and persistent challenges. The country is heavily reliant on the Nile River, which provides 90% of its total water resources, amounting to 55 billion cubic meters annually, a figure unchanged since 1954. However, national water demand exceeds 90 billion cubic meters, creating a chronic water deficit. As a result, per capita water availability declined to 570 cubic meters in 2018, well below the 1,000 cubic meter water scarcity threshold. In response, Egypt has prioritized water conservation and wastewater treatment infrastructure to optimize limited resources while addressing rising consumption from population growth and agricultural expansion.
Between 1990 and 2010, Egypt significantly expanded access to piped water, increasing urban coverage from 89% to 100% and rural coverage from 39% to 93%, while also eliminating open defecation in rural areas. By 2019, 96.9% of the population had access to safely managed drinking water, while proper sanitation coverage rose from 50% in 2015 to 66.2% in 2019, and the share of treated wastewater reached 74% by 2022.
Institutional reforms have shaped Egypt’s water and sanitation sector, with the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW) created in 2004 and the Egyptian Water Regulatory Agency (EWRA) established in 2006 to oversee service provision and regulatory enforcement. While 98% of Egyptians now have access to at least basic water sources, challenges persist. Only half of the population is connected to sanitary sewers, and low cost recovery due to some of the world’s lowest water tariffs requires substantial government subsidies. These financial constraints, exacerbated by post-2011 salary increases without corresponding tariff adjustments, have hindered infrastructure expansion.As per the 2006 census Additionally, poor operation of facilities, limited government accountability, and low transparency further strain the sector.
Foreign assistance remains crucial, with the United States, European Union, France, Germany, the World Bank, and other international donors providing both financing and technical expertise. While sector reforms have aimed at improving cost recovery and service efficiency, private sector involvement has remained limited, primarily confined to Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects for treatment plants.
Water resources in Egypt
Egypt's main source of freshwater is the Nile River. The river supplies 55 billion m3 of freshwater every year, which represents 97% of all renewable water resources in Egypt. Overall, the Nile River constitutes about 90% Egypt's water supply. Average rainfall in Egypt is estimated at 18 mm or 1.8 billion m3 per year. Furthermore, Egypt has four different groundwater aquifers: the Nile Aquifer, the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, the Moghra Aquifer and the Coastal Aquifer. Since 2005, Egypt is classified as a water scarce country as it has less than 1000 m3 of fresh water per year per capita. Furthermore, it is forecasted that in 2025 the population will reach 95 million, which would mean a per capita share of only 600 m3 per year. Cities on the Red Sea coast such as Hurghada are supplied with water from the Nile pumped via pipelines. However, in 2015 a contract for an 80,000 m3/day seawater desalination plant has been awarded to supply the city with water.
Water access In 2015, 98% of the population had access to "at least basic" water and 93% had access to "at least basic" sanitation. Nevertheless, there were still, 1.8 million people without access to "at least basic" water and 6.4 million without access to "at least basic" sanitation.
Access to Water and Sanitation in Egypt (2010) Urban(43% of the population) Rural(57% of the population) TotalWater Broad definition 100% 63% 63% House connections 100% 93% 96%Sanitation Broad definition 97% 93% 95%Sewage n/a n/a 50% (2006 census)
According to the Arab Republic of Egypt: Urban Sector Update, Egypt has reached the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people without proper access to safe water and sanitation by 2015 ahead of time in 2008.World Bank (2008), Arab Republic of Egypt: Urban Sector Update, Retrieved on 2009-12-15 However, according to the government report of the same year, Egypt was still off track to achieve the sanitation target in rural areas, especially in Upper Egypt and in frontier governorates.Ministry of Economic Development: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: A Midpoint Assessment, 2008, p. 55-56, quoted in the Egypt Country Report by the UN Special Rapporteur for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, p. 12
Soakaway latrines, which are common in rural areas, often do not work properly due to the high groundwater table. Infrequent emptying and cracks in the walls result in sewage leaks which contaminates the surrounding streets, canals, and groundwater. Trucks that empty latrines and septic tanks do not necessarily discharge septage into wastewater treatment plants, but rather dump the content in the environment.
Water use and hygiene behavior
At the national level, domestic water use in Egypt was estimated at 5.5 billion cubic meters per year, accounting for 8% of total water consumption. This corresponded to an average daily usage of 200 liters per capita, nearly double the consumption level in Germany. However, actual domestic use was lower due to network losses and varied significantly across different regions. In the late 20th century, installed drinking water supply capacity ranged from 70 liters per capita per day (L/c/d) in Upper Egypt to 330 L/c/d in Cairo, while Alexandria recorded a consumption of approximately 300 L/c/d.Badran M.; Jamrah A.; Gaese H.: Assessment of a cost-covering sanitation tariff for Alexandria/Egypt 2010
At the local level, a study conducted in the late 1980s on water and sanitation in two Nile Delta villages provided insights into rural water use and hygiene practices at the time. Villagers relied on three primary water sources: piped water from household connections or public standpipes, shallow wells with hand pumps, and canal water. Canals played a crucial role in household activities, as many women used them for laundry, washing utensils, and cleaning vegetables and grain.Samiha El-Katsha:Women, Water, and Sanitation: Household Water Use in Two Egyptian Villages. Cairo Papers in Social Science, Volume 12, Monograph 2, Summer 1989. Social Research Center Research Series No. 1
Women preferred canal water to groundwater due to its softness and lack of brackishness. However, standpipe surroundings were often unclean, with residents viewing maintenance as a government responsibility rather than a communal duty. Shallow wells suffered from contamination, and sewerage systems were absent, leaving greywater unmanaged. Household latrines were primarily used by women, while men relied on mosque facilities or defecated in canals, and children defecated openly in streets or fields. Latrine waste was emptied by donkey carts or trucks, which often disposed of the contents into canals, exacerbating sanitation issues. These conditions contributed to persistently high infant mortality rates despite government efforts to expand water supply infrastructure through standpipes.
By the early 21st century, hygiene and sanitation conditions had significantly improved. Open defecation in rural areas declined from 17% in 1990 to less than 1% by 2005.Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation:Estimates for the use of Improved Sanitation Facilities in Egypt , updated March 2010, drawing on figures for the Egyptian Demographic and Health Survey 2005. While expanding access to water supply alone had limited impact on child mortality, subsequent improvements in sanitation and hygiene practices contributed to a significant decline in child mortality, from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 23 in 2008.UN data:Children under five mortality rate per 1,000 live births in Egypt, 1990-2008, retrieved on January 22, 2011Time Magazine:Egypt Leads in Cutting Infant Deaths, by Amany Radwan, May 16, 2007, retrieved on January 22, 2011
Infrastructure As of 2008, there were 153 large and 817 small drinking water treatment plants, as well as 239 wastewater treatment plants. The length of the water distribution networks was 107,000 km and the length of the wastewater collection network was 29,000 km.
Drinking water quality
Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, sanitation infrastructure deficiencies in Egypt posed significant public health risks. A 2007 report estimated that 17,000 children died annually from diarrheal diseases linked to poor sanitation, highlighting the dire consequences of inadequate wastewater management.National Water Research Center, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (2007): Actualizing the Right to Water: An Egyptian Perspective for an Action Plan, Shaden Abdel-Gawad. Retrieved 30 April 2012. Many water treatment plants suffered from poor maintenance, rendering them ineffective in removing parasites, viruses, and other parasitic microorganisms.Noha Donia, Assistant Professor Engineering Dep. Institute of Environmental Studies and Research:SURVEY OF POTABLE WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS IN EGYPT, Eleventh International Water Technology Conference (2007), Sharm el-Sheikh, p. 1051, retrieved on 2011-07-21
In 2009, a Ministry of Health study revealed that drinking water for 500,000 people in Asyut was unfit for human consumption. By June 2011, no remedial action had been taken. Chlorination systems installed in previous years to combat high bacterial contamination in groundwater had failed due to lack of maintenance, leading to their deactivation and exposing residents to untreated water.
Other regions faced similar crises. In 2007, residents of Wardan village in northern Giza reported darkened water, raising alarms over contamination. Authorities denied responsibility, attributing the issue to illegal shallow wells and private booster pumps used by residents to secure water access and pressure. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment acknowledged broader institutional failures, citing poor coordination between agencies, a lack of standardized monitoring, and inconsistent water quality analysis methods.
Wastewater treatment
Egypt has significantly expanded its wastewater treatment capacity over the past two decades to address growing water demand and pollution concerns. By 2012, the country had 375 municipal wastewater treatment plants, treating an average of 10.1 million cubic meters per day. The number of plants increased tenfold between 1985 and 2005, and by 2021, total wastewater treatment capacity exceeded 16 million cubic meters per day.
The Gabal El Asfar Wastewater Treatment Plant, located northeast of Cairo, has been a key facility for water treatment. Initially completed in 1999 with a 1.2 million cubic meter per day capacity, it expanded to 2 million cubic meters per day by 2009. A further expansion to 2.5 million cubic meters per day, financed by the African Development Bank, was planned in 2013, with an ultimate goal of reaching 3 million cubic meters per day, serving 12 million people.African Development Bank:EGYPT: GABAL EL ASFAR WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT - ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SUMMARY, undated, retrieved on May 30, 2010
Located in western Giza, Abu Rawash initially treated 0.4 million cubic meters per day at a primary level. This was expanded to 1.2 million cubic meters per day by 2008. In 2013, a plan was launched to upgrade the plant to secondary treatment and expand its capacity to 1.6 million cubic meters per day under a public-private partnership with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).