The price of potable water in Cairo has increased, but has the quality and availability improved? Yasmine Fathi investigates "If you had very little water, would you use it to give your children food and drink? Or to bathe and clean your house?" asks Refaat Mousa, a tailor and father of two. It's a tough choice, but it's becoming an increasingly common question for many Cairo residents. Persistent water cuts, as well as the poor quality of water emerging from many a Cairene tap, has become a constant complaint among residents of the capital city. And that was before the Ministry of Housing announced in October that the price of water would be doubled in Cairo and Giza, from 12 to 23 piastres per cubic metre. According to Hussein El-Gabli, first deputy of the New Urban Community Authority, the aim of increasing water prices is to create a balance between cost and income. "In reality, the cost of water is 60 to 80 piastres per cubic metre," El- Gabli explained to Al-Ahram Weekly. "Up till now, the government has been paying the difference between price and cost. But that is an increasingly difficult task, due to the population increase." The Holding Company for Potable Water and Sanitary Drainage was established last June. However, El-Gabli said that "this decision [to increase water prices] was taken four years ago." And while resident pockets may be feeling the strain, El-Gabli argues it is all for a good cause: the restructuring and reform of the potable water sector. "We will improve services, reduce losses and support conservation," he explained. Officials concerned with the provision of water services, however, do not all seem to agree. While El-Gabli linked the increase in prices with the need to reform the sector, another senior official denied there was a problem in the first place. Abdallah Hammouda, general manager of Public Relations at the Public Institute of Water Services for Greater Cairo, dared the Weekly to tell him of one area within Cairo that had suffered water shortages. "I want the exact name of the street and apartment numbers!" Hamouda insisted. "How can people say that they do not receive water for weeks on end? No one can survive without water for even one week!" Residents of Ezbet Al-Hagana in Nasr City are glad to take up his challenge. "Sometimes the water is cut for 15 days at a time," says Um Reda, mother of nine. Large barrels and plastic water pitchers have become a fixture in the homes of Al-Hagana residents. "Whenever the water is cut we are forced to carry water pitchers to near-by buildings and get them filled there," says Sanya Mohamed, another resident of the area. "If it's a good day, we come home with the water. If not, the porters turn us away and we return empty handed." And even if it is a lucky day, storing water in barrels produces its own problems. "Worms infest the water and we get sick," says Um Reda. Some residents of Al-Hagana have turned the lack of water into a business, by filling water pitchers and selling them to the residents. "And the more days the water is cut, the higher the price. They live off our desperation," complains Raafat Hana, a resident. Al-Hagana residents are not alone in their thirst. Even those lucky enough to live in the posher areas of Nasr City suffer the same fate at times. "The government turns the water off about four times a month," says Salma Salem, a young professional. Rania Hassan, mother of two, adds that they are never informed of water cuts in time to put by reserves. According to UNICEF's publication The Situation of Childhood & Motherhood in Egypt, A rights-based analysis (2003), 99.1 per cent of urban areas in Egypt have access to safe drinking water. However, other experts in the field think differently. According to Ihab Hashem, business development manager at System Techniques, a private water treatment company, these figures cannot be relied on because Egypt's system for quantifying water supply is still very backward. "The international standard says that each individual should have 1,000 cubic metres a year," Hashem explained. "So since we are 70 million, then we need 70 billion cubic metres. But each individual in Egypt at the moment gets approximately 860 cubic metres, which means that we are living under the water poverty line." Hashem also stated that many Cairenes are under the misconception that Egypt has an abundance of water. "People think that because we have the Nile we are rich in terms of water, but our floods are not stable, and they don't always bring the same amount of water." Despite Hammouda's denial that there is the least hint of a city water distribution problem, he's enthusiastic about discussing the creation of a new hotline set up specifically to receive complaints from citizens. "All you have to do is dial 125 and we will make sure the water returns as soon as possible," he told the Weekly. "We even call back to make sure that the water has returned," he added with boyish pride. However, when the Weekly tried the 125 hotline, it took us three hours to finally get through. The operator apologised for the busy lines and explained that they receive on average 14,000 complaints a day. When we asked Hammouda about the 14,000 calls, he denied they were all complaints. "I'm the one who is in charge of the hotline, and we get only 150 serious calls a day," he insisted. "The other calls are pranks by citizens who just want to have fun." Fun aside, one primary reason for the lack of water in many areas of Cairo is infrastructure which was built some time ago with specific capacities in mind. According to Hammouda, when Nasr City was first constructed, each building was supposed to have a maximum of five floors. "However, now there are buildings with more than 15 floors," he explained. "So the water is available, but can't be pumped to such heights." For years now, the inhabitants of tall buildings have installed electric pumps to bring the water to the upper floors. But these days, it seems that even this measure is no longer enough. Shweikar El-Bakri, mother of three, says the constant water cuts have burned their pumps. Further, Cairo's water network is over 50 years old, and it has not been ageing gracefully. According to a report by Anwar El-Deeb of the National Research Centre, cracks in the underground network have been causing losses of around 50 per cent of the flow, when the standard is 12 per cent -- a very costly business. "If we could save this money and use part of it for equipment and the rest for maintenance, it would make a big difference," says Hashem . Hashem also pointed out another major problem: the lack of up-to-date plans of the network. "Since the network was created, hundreds of branches have been added, but very few were added to the maps. Today, not even the governorate has a fully corrected plan. So how can they fix anything if they don't know where the pipes are?" Hand in hand with provision problems come issues of quality. Cairo's tap water is being blamed for a whole host of ailments ranging from diarrhoea to cancer. Again an archaic network is the principal suspect. "Because the network is so old and both the water pipes and the sewage pipes travel along the same tunnels, and both have holes in them, contamination takes place," alleged Hashem. It's an allegation that Hammouda vehemently denies, insisting that the network in Egypt is constantly being renewed, with 150kms of pipe fixed every year. "Last year the minister of housing said that Cairo water is of good quality and compatible with all international standards," pointed out Hammouda, listing the 13 water stations, each of which has its own lab. There is also a central laboratory which performs advanced chemical and biological analysis and is the first of its kind in the Middle East. According to Eman Abdel-Wahab, a chemist at the Central Health Laboratory at the Ministry of Health, the laboratory samples water taken from shops and homes, in addition to input and output stations. "We get no less than 60 samples per day," Abdel-Wahab told the Weekly. While Abdel-Wahab feels confident in reassuring Cairenes that the water is safe, she does not broach the subject of chlorine use. According to a government source who requested anonymity, when chlorine interacts with organic matter present in pre-clarified Nile water it creates Trihalomethanes (THMS), which in turn have a negative effect on the performance and growth of human cells. "Simply put, its carcinogenic," explained the source. THMS should be removed by activated carbon, but this technique is only used in Egypt on a very small scale. "So we either have to give up chlorine and use another disinfectant, or use activated carbon to remove the (THMS)," said the source. The problem is that, Egypt's water clarification plants were not designed to fit activated carbon filters, added the source. In addition, chlorine is a cheap and highly effective disinfectant. So it seems no changes are likely to be introduced soon. But in many cases, water contamination is not a result of flaws in the public system, but can be traced to water storage tanks, which residents fail to maintain properly. According to Hashem, in some cases the tanks are coated with a protective layer such as epoxy, which is a very dangerous chemical. "I know of cases where the doorman bathes his kids in the tanks, and then residents come to me and complain about the water quality! This is not my problem. My duty ends at the water meters," Hammouda added. Abdel-Wahab pointed out that Egypt has in the past few years made significant progress in improving the quality of the country's drinking water. One step that has been taken is the addition of an Atomic Absorption device in the lab. This instrument detects heavy metals, such as copper, mercury or aluminum, in the water. "These products are very dangerous," Abdel-Wahab explained. "Lead, for example, can cause retarded mental development. Ten years ago, that machine was not available." Abdel-Wahab, however, stressed that there is still room for improvement. She argued that people who are responsible for analysing our water need financial support if they are to do a good job. "Remember that these are the people who will decide if this is good water or not," she stressed. "They need to be trained well, and they need to be motivated." Officials like El-Gabli, however, insist that the government has not been tightfisted with its money. He stated that from 1982 to this day, LE65 billion have been spent on the water sector, "LE40 billion were spent on sewage, and LE25 billion on drinking water," he explained. However, even after spending all this money, the water situation still seems bleak. Whether the increase in prices will improve the service is yet to be seen. Until then, Cairenes will have to continue to face water shortages every day. "I have back problems and I have to carry the pitchers up three floors to get to my house," says Mousa the tailor, with an air of resignation. "The pain is excruciating! But we cannot do without water! If there's a cut, I send the children to my relatives. An adult is strong and can cope, but a child can't. It's a problem a child should not be faced with in the 21st century."
