JP water_ins10.qxd 1/26/06 5:38 PM Page 1 37662 GEF Global Action on Water IMPROVING WATER QUALITY IN LAKE MANZALA Located on the northeastern edge of the Nile Delta pollutants flowing into the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt, close to Port Said, Lake Manzala once from Egyptian sources and to improve the overall provided 30 percent of all fish consumed in Egypt. water quality of the Lake. This will be done by Environmental and contaminant stresses have using plants in specially constructed ponds that changed this. The public has become wary of will filter polluted water coming through a eating Lake Manzala fish because they show a drainage system into the Lake. The facilities for high frequency of organ malformation and discol- the wetlands include intake screw pumps, sedi- oration. This situation has severely affected the ment basins, surface treatment cells, subsurface fishing community, both socially and economically. reciprocating cells, pilot test cells, a fish-rearing facility, and an effluent reuse area. In general, access to clean, reliable water is a pri- mary concern for Egypt. Pollution from farms, The five-year demonstration project includes cities, and industrial centers flows through the three years for design and construction, fol- Nile Delta, entering Lake Manzala and other large lowed by two years of operation to assess per- coastal lakes before pouring in the Mediterranean formance, design criteria, and rate constants for Sea. Traditionally, the wastewater has been left wetlands systems in Egypt. Its immediate objec- untreated, degrading the Lake and sending pollu- tives are to build capacity for sustainable devel- tion downstream into the Mediterranean. opment in managing Lake Manzala and to demonstrate engineered wetlands technology as THE PROJECT a low-cost and efficient method of treating large In 2001, construction began on a 100-hectare bodies of water in Egypt. Its overall goal is to engineered wetlands facility southwest of promote a cleaner Mediterranean Sea. The proj- Port Said. The project is a cooperative effort ect also contains income-generating activities for among the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the local fishing communities. the Egyptian Government (Egyptian Environ- mental Affairs Agency), and the United Nations PROJECT IMPACT Development Programme. The wetlands are AND REPLICATION designed to treat 25,000 cubic meters per day of It is expected that the successful operation of the polluted drain water from the Bahr El Baqar Drain engineered wetlands will encourage the govern- and to assess the feasibility of wetlands treat- ment to replicate the technology in other parts of ment as an alternative for improving water qual- the Lake, thus reducing the pollution load that ity in Lake Manzala and the Mediterranean Sea. reaches the Mediterranean Sea. Because they are the first of their type in Egypt and the Middle East, The project will pilot an innovative, low-cost the wetlands should generate design criteria for method for cleaning polluted waters in the wet- new engineered wetlands in the region. In addi- lands region of Lake Manzala. It aims to reduce tion, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation the level of municipal, industrial, and agricultural has expressed interest in using the engineered JP water_ins10.qxd 1/26/06 5:38 PM Page 2 wetlands facility as a center of excellence for low- will test the possibility of breeding some fish cost wastewater treatment technologies follow- species that have already disappeared from Lake ing the phaseout of the GEF funds. Manzala because of high pollution stress. In this context, the technology can be used near the Engineered wetlands also appear to be an project area to produce high-quality fish. appropriate decentralized wastewater treatment technique for remote communities in Egypt and BENEFICIARIES the Middle East, especially with the availability A variety of groups stand to benefit from this of spacious desert lands. The knowledge gained project: in designing the engineered wetlands has already been communicated to other projects; Local residents living around Lake Manzala currently, five engineered wetlands are under and, in particular, those who are involved in construction for treatment of sewage water in managing the wetlands for biomass products small agricultural communities at the fringes of and aquaculture the Nile Delta. All residents, because of the enhanced envi- ronmental awareness and the improved During operation, the project aims to engage water quality members of the local community in economic activities related to the operation and mainte- Local fishermen who adopt improved fish- nance of the facility to increase their awareness farming techniques demonstrated by the of the technology and cover some of the opera- aquaculture facility tional costs of the facility. Local residents will also be involved in harvesting and processing Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) plants into marketable products. Meanwhile, that participate in the wetlands demonstra- the effluent will provide clean water for the tion project and focus on the project area aquaculture facility to produce fingerlings and and its development juvenile fish for restocking the lake and for other aquaculture ventures. Regional scientific institutions and individual scientists who use the wetlands facility for There is a large potential for engineered wetlands research studies and training applications in Egypt for fish farming. The engi- neered wetlands even include an aquaculture The regional and national governmental facility to investigate the feasibility of fish farming agencies, in particular the Egyptian using the treated wastewater. The aquaculture Environmental Affairs Agency. FOR MORE INFORMATION Global Environment Facility 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 USA Tel: 202-473-0508 Fax: 202-522-3240 www.theGEF.org January 2006