Blessed with excellent resources, Egypt suffers from its own share of water-related problems, Dena Rashed investigates The Nile, two seas, and seven lakes -- indeed, as far as water goes, Egypt has it better than most in the region. Despite the fact that desert makes up almost 95 per cent of the country's surface area, high levels of the precious resource are envied across the Middle East and Africa. Over recent decades, Egypt's neighbours have been trying hard to find similar resources. Libya has been working for years on its Great Man-Made River, with little success and much wasted investment to show for it. Israel too has pondered the question long and hard, to the extent that a good part of its foreign policy has long been dedicated precisely to solving the issue by hook or by crook. Much as Egypt has it easier than others, however, it also has its fair share of problems sustaining its supplies. While the number of people booms -- with estimates now averaging out at almost 80 million ----the country's share of water remains unchanged at 55 billion cubic metres. Recently, the annual share per person decreased to 1,000 cubic metres. It is believed that a country is said to experience water stress when annual water supplies drop below 1, 700 cubic meters per person. The quality of drinking water has also been a source of concern and contention over recent years. Last year, news spread in Dakahlyia, El-Beheira and Damietta governorates about water being too polluted to drink. Frightened citizens refrained from consuming tap water, particularly when imams at the mosques joined the chorus and urged locals to avoid it. Consequently prices of bottled mineral water sky-rocketed. And despite the fact that tests conducted by the Ministry of Health later proved the water was safe to drink, the incident nevertheless caused anxieties that were difficult to calm. A recent report released by the parliament's Housing Committee revealed that drinking water in 18 governorates, including Alexandria, Giza, North Sinai and Assiut, is not safe to drink. The report also indicated that the rates of water pollution in these governorates have exceeded international standards. Officials and researchers say that efforts are constantly being made to continue providing clean water. For his part, professor of water microbiology and head of the Water Pollution Department at the Cairo-based National Research Centre Ahmed Shaaban continues to believe tap water is safe and clean enough to drink. He acknowledges that there are impurities, but "nothing in the world is 100 per cent pure," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The same goes for water -- so long as the normal levels are not surpassed, that is." In certain parts of the country, people perform their own tests to ensure the water is safe. While some pour tap water on a wad of cotton wool and then examine its colour, others practise the age- old technique of boil-before-use. But according to Shaaban, in the country's more developed governorates, it's enough to let the tap run for 10 seconds, pour into a glass, and then wait for about a minute to ensure that no impurities have gathered. Easier said then done -- but then again, as compared to the fates of their fellow citizens in remote areas and small villages, those of us who live in "the big cities are in heaven," according to Shaaban. "It can be argued that drinking water undergoes all the necessary purification procedures," he added. But the real problem lies in old systems and machinery that have not been replaced for decades. "When water networks were introduced for the first time to villages almost 40 years ago, people were thrilled. But they were not accompanied by sewage networks," he explained. As a result, sewage is not disposed of properly and eventually it gets mixed up with the water network. "In order to extract clean water from the ground, people should dig up to 200 to 300 metres. But when people only dig around 20 or 30 metres in subsurface, they only get drainage water, which, of course, is highly polluted," he said. This is just one of many expensive mistakes that still affect many people in the areas in question. And even for the more fortunate town and city- dwellers, who have access to water through proper networks, problems still occur. For one, protecting Nile waters -- which constitute a major source -- from pollution continues to constitute an uphill struggle for environmentalists and water experts. In addition, cities are more often than not equipped with ageing pipe systems and contention over how best to disinfect drinking water remains rife. Egypt continues to use chlorine to clean its water from pollutants, bacteria and organic materials, but some have argued that this method can lead to kidney failure and propose ozone be used instead. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), however, so long as the level of chlorine for disinfection does not exceed five milligrammes per cubic litre, it remains safe. Arguing that chlorine is more cost-effective than other available options, Shaaban insisted that it is safe "as long as we respect global limits. And although the percentage we use is higher than in other countries, we have our reasons. We have high rates of pollution -- particularly in terms of chemicals in some areas." Further, given that many of Egypt's pipes are old, many argue that ozone, which corrodes some metals, is unsafe. Chlorine, on the other hand, is guaranteed not to do so. "Ozone is a disinfectant but certainly not a preserver," he said. Seeking to avoid the problem altogether, many have taken to filtering their own tap water, while others have switched to bottled water. "Both have their negative sides," Shaaban said. Filters have to be cleaned regularly to ensure they do not merely incubate the bacteria and impurities they separate out. Meanwhile, old factories tend to discard many useful elements in the process of purifying the mineral water, and, more often than not, storage procedures do not comply with international safety standards. More generally, it is clear that the heart of the problem -- that Egypt's waters are, on the whole, highly polluted -- needs to be solved fast. It isn't enough, however, to blame the state or to look to researchers for immediate solutions. Shaaban argued that Egypt is caught in a vicious circle which is only heightened by a broad lack of appreciation, particularly in the industrial sector, for the importance of water. In spite of the introduction of Law 4/1994, some factories have not yet managed to reconcile their status, and they continue to dispose their untreated waste in the River Nile. The country's lakes, which are a vital source of income for local fishermen, each suffer from a different problem. Lake Maryut, for example, is still plagued by dumped waste from neighbouring factories (see related story, p.3). On the other hand, Lake Al-Manzala suffers from land filling, while Qaroun is at risk due to increased levels of salination (see related story p.2). At Rashid, one of the Nile's two distributaries into the Mediterranean, the increasingly familiar sight of dead fish on the river's shores for almost the seventh year in a row has also rendered the urgency of combating water pollution all the more pressing. It is estimated that seven million cubic metres of sewage wastes and four million cubic metres of chemicals are being disposed of periodically in the Rashid distributary. Director of Education and Environmental Mass Communication Department at Ain Shams University Abdel-Masih Samaan explained why progress has been slow. "It is important to note that in the 1980s, when our Environment Institute was established, people were not even familiar with the term 'environment'," he told the Weekly. "Now simple people know what the word means." This department specialises in providing graduate degrees coupling studies on media and the environment, and thus aims to raise the people's environmental know-how. Samaan added that the most efficient means to transmit messages that strive for eco-friendliness are indirect. "In schools, we decided not to introduce books on the environment, but to indirectly include the message we want to deliver in all the subjects, whether Arabic or maths," he said. Bearing in mind that almost 40 per cent of the country is illiterate, the task at hand is even more complicated. Explaining that items relating to the environment have been included on news and sports programmes, Samaan added that "we do not believe in airing shows specifically on the environment, since they may not be aired at appropriate times. Instead we try and include our message in prime time shows." Nevertheless, the road ahead is long, since the creation of an adequate culture of preservation demands a committed joint effort by the people, the state and the private sector. Samaan argued that issues pertaining to the Nile and drinking water should become an immediate priority for all. Though levels of environmental awareness have grown over recent years, "the attitude is still missing," he said. "And that is what we and NGOs hope at developing. Working to develop a clean environment is not up to the state alone. It's a job that we all have a hand in."
