CAIRO: The engineered wetland project in the Bahr El Baar area south of Port Said represents great potential for improving Egypt's water pollution conundrum. Unconventional and environmentally friendly, the new project at the Manzallah Lake utilizes indigenous plant life and natural filtration systems to clean heavily polluted drain water, before it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The project was constructed through the aid of the United Nation's Development Program (UNDP) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministries of Environmental Affairs and Irrigation and Water Resources. Still in its experimental phases, the current project processes 25,000 cubic liters of water per day, in effect improving the water quality of the surrounding fisheries in the Manzala Lake. In a celebration on Sept. 11 at the project's site, the ownership and management of the project was transferred from the Ministry of Environmental Affairs to the Ministry of Irrigation and Water resources, in the presence of both ministers, the governor of Port Said and UNDP representatives, including UN Goodwill Ambassador, actress Youssra. Governor of Port Said Mustafa Kamel also requested publicly from the Minister of Environmental Affairs Maged George the establishment of a water treatment facility in the vicinity of the East Port Said port. "Our port facilitates the passage of more than 2.7 million vessels annually, which means that more than 20,000 vessels pass through everyday. For this reason we would be willing to provide the land for the establishment of an anti-pollution center in the area, said Kamel. At a cost of $5 million excluding the price of the land, which was handed to the project as a grant, engineered wetlands cost nearly a tenth of conventional water treatment plants, which usually make use of chemicals and heavy machinery. "This experiment can be recreated on a wider range of rural areas that exist in a desert background, said Minister of Irrigation and Land Resources Mahmoud Abu Zeid. By removing at least 75 percent of toxins in the water from the Bahr El Baar drain, the wetland project has also provided better quality of water for the surrounding fisheries. "I feel proud that this facility has been recognized by a number of national and international experts for its high scientific value and replication potential, said James Rawley, resident UNDP Representative. Local fishery farmers like Asaas El Hamad have also felt the difference that the project has made. Yet, he wishes more would be done. "I felt an improvement in the quality and taste of my fish rather than the quantities of production. However if the project was constructed from the beginning of the Manzallah Lake it could have helped a lot more people, Hamad told Daily News Egypt. Hamad also hopes that essential services like electricity can be provided on the sidelines of the project.
