Dr. Abdel Kawi Khalifa, Minister of Utilities, Sewage & waste asked the board of the Holding Company for Water and Waste Water, the National Authority for Drinking Water, the Executive Body, the Regulatory Body, to provide emergency plans that can be applied in case of power outages. The Minister stressed the workflow in stations of potable water and waste water treatment should not be interrupted, suggesting to provide those stations with diesel generators, particularly in big stations. This was said during the minister's meeting with the leader of the Holding Company for Water and Waste Water and the National Authority for Drinking Water. Khalifa stressed on the importance of coordinating with the Ministry of Electricity to set a schedule for the times in which the power will be cut off the the drinking water stations, and using the existing generators during peak periods in order to reduce loads and allow the Ministry of Electricity to make use of the remaining amounts by distributing them among other places. He pointed out to the need of dealing seriously with the places that experience frequent water outages,and assigning cars to permanently transfer water to these areas. The Minister suggested setting a schedule for making use of the graduates of the vocational high schools for drinking water and sewage, class 2012, given that they are specialists in this field. He also called for establishing two funds for receiving the complaints at the two companies, one for the citizens' complaints and another for the complaints of the employees. Such complaints should be presented to the Chairmen of the Board on a daily basis. Major General Mr. Nasr, Chairman of the Holding Company for Water and Waste water, strongly recommended signing a contract with a specialized consultant to study the problems of drinking water, provide practical and economical solutions in order to guarantee the continuation of this service, in addition to updating the data of the general plan. The meeting attendees also discussed the necessity of paying attention to the quality of drinking water, especially in the areas which rely on ground water, and which has a high percentage of iron and Manganese in addition to investigating the problems of operation and maintenance at each company and developing a scientific and economic methodology for solving these problems.
