The Egyptian Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW) has selected a consortium led by Stantec to improve access to sanitation services through wastewater infrastructure for communities in the Fayoum governorate in Egypt. Stantec will act as the Project Implementation Support and Contract Supervision Consultant to manage the large-scale construction program to expand wastewater treatment, water reuse capabilities, and the system sewerage network.

The governorate of Fayoum is in a rural, developing region about 90 kilometers (55 miles) southwest of Cairo. The area is in close proximity to Lake Qarun—the third largest lake in Egypt and one of the most important tourist attractions in the country. In lesser populated areas of the region, coverage of sanitation services is low, and more than half of the communities are not connected to a centralized wastewater network. This lack of access results in raw sewage being discharged directly to the agricultural drains and Lake Qarun—which is the area’s main freshwater resource—causing significant environmental, economic, and social harm.

The Fayoum Wastewater Expansion program, with a value of 456.5 million euros, is financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and co-financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s Neighbourhood Investment Facility, and the Egyptian government. It is part of a wider set of measures by the Egyptian government to address the challenges the country faces in sanitation coverage. The overarching goal of the project is to increase access to sanitation from 32.6 percent to 86 percent in rural areas of the Fayoum governorate.

Stantec will be responsible for design services related to network infrastructure and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), procurement support, project implementation support, development of a training plan, capacity building, contract management, and construction supervision services. Establishing system implementation and ongoing support to the HCWW and Fayoum Company for Water and Wastewater (FWWC) is key to this partnership.

The first phase of the program will expand sewer services in 119 underserved rural areas in Fayoum. This phase includes constructing 4 new WWTPs, expanding 7, rehabilitating 10, and decommissioning 6 existing WWTPs. It will also include constructing approximately 256 kilometers (159 miles) of new pressurized rising mains, 2,334 kilometers (1,450 miles) of sewer lines, and 100 new sewage pumping stations. These measures will increase access to sanitation to 75.6 percent and benefit 700,000 people. The second phase will help an additional 41 underserved villages, with the potential to improve the lives of 240,000 more people – bringing total sanitation access to 86 percent of the region’s population.

“We are proud to lead this consortium to implement this EBRD-led program that promises to have a positive impact on the community of Fayoum,” says Dr. Murat Sarioglu, Operations Director and Project Director at Stantec. “The Egyptian government and the development institutions have prioritized access to clean water, and we are honoured to leverage our experience and expertise in water and wastewater infrastructure engineering to provide greater access to sanitation services, support the growth of the region, and alleviate environmental and public health concerns.”