Egypt is seeking to expand its sludge treatment programme through public-private partnerships (PPP) as it continues to build wastewater treatment plants to meet the needs of its population of 111 million, reports Zawya.
Atter Hannoura, Director of the PPP Central Unit at the Ministry of Finance, highlighted that the growing network of wastewater treatment facilities is generating increased volumes of sludge, presenting a significant management challenge.
Speaking at the PPP MENA Forum in Dubai on Tuesday, Hannoura announced that a feasibility study is currently in progress for the Abu Rawash Wastewater Sludge Treatment Plant in Giza Governorate. The project, estimated at $150 million, will be implemented using a design, build, finance, and operate (DBOF) model.
The plant is expected to process 714 tonnes of sludge per day, produced by the Aba Rawash wastewater treatment plant (with a capacity of 2 million cubic meters per day) and the Zenin wastewater treatment plant (handling 500,000 cubic meters per day). The treated sludge will be converted into electricity and fertilizers.
Hannoura said: “Usually we push this sludge to a lagoon in the desert 35km away, leave it there to dry after which we seek potential uses for it. The current direction is to minimise sludge by recycling and converting it into energy, fertilisers, or other useful products.”
The project is being tendered by the Ministry of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Development in conjunction with the Construction Authority for Potable Water & Wastewater (CAPW). Hannoura stressed that any proposals to convert the sludge into fertilizers must include solutions to remove persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals, as these contaminants can adversely affect soil and agriculture.
Additionally, the PPP unit is collaborating with the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater on a separate sludge treatment project for the 99,000 cubic meters per day wastewater treatment plant in Tanta, Gharbia Governorate. This project is estimated to cost around 320 million Egyptian pounds ($6.6 million).
Hannoura also mentioned plans to establish sludge treatment hubs to handle waste from smaller wastewater treatment plants in rural and non-urban areas.
According to the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater, it currently manages 440 sewage treatment plants across Egypt’s 25 governorates.
