Desalination of brackish groundwater in Egypt

Fresh groundwater resources in Egypt contribute to some 20% of the total potential of water resources in Egypt. The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) increasingly recognizes its importance in the overall water resources management. The need for a more comprehensive groundwater management approach has led to the establishment of the Groundwater Sector (GWS) in December 1999. The GWS is now the sole responsible governmental agency for management of all groundwater resources and related water resources. The mandate of the GWS is: formulating and implementing the general policy for developing and managing groundwater and related water resources (flash floods, rainwater harvesting and desalinated water) on the national, regional and sub-regional level. Desalination of brackish groundwater in Egypt has a great potential with respect to the availability of the resource. All major aquifer systems in Egypt contain vast quantities of brackish groundwater. The exploitation of this resource is still limited. With the current low price of brackish water desalination there is a growing interest towards its exploitation. Brackish water desalination plants in Egypt confirm the potential of this solution. Other uses for brackish groundwater that are being considered are agriculture (salt tolerant crops) and fisheries (shrimp farms). The elements of the vision for desalination of brackish groundwater are: environmental sustainability through recycling of water and re-infiltration; public-private partnerships for exploitation, especially in the tourism sector; private sector financing through accepted modalities (BOT, DBO, etc.). With the input of experience from the Netherlands through the GWS project a new program for desalination was started. This program aims to provide the necessary concepts and data on desalination of brackish groundwater in Egypt to allow the GWS to formulate a clear policy in this regard.