Environmentally Friendly Wastewater Treatment in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges

The uncontrolled and untreated discharge of significant amounts of wastewater into water bodies, including lakes, rivers, and streams, as a result of population growth, has resulted in a number of environmental and health problems. At the local and municipal levels, many processes are traditionally used for wastewater treatment. It is essential to comprehend all accessible methods and assess their effectiveness because of the growing demand for and development of newer technology. Reusing various agricultural, municipal, and industrial wastes is a workable solution to Egypt\u27s water needs due to the country\u27s limited water supply and gradually rising water demand. The Egyptian irrigation system is regarded as a closed system and a mixed system, with various water losses returning to the drainage system. This caused the drainage water to become more polluted, which makes its reuse a significant issue. In the present review, all the important methods involved in the treatment of wastewater and its monitoring have been comprehensively discussed and compared along with their advantages and disadvantages. Information will not only help in understanding the treatment of wastewater but it will also help in developing procedures for the reuse of treated water for various alternative purposes. Wetland is a strong candidate to address this issue. The technique was applied in Egypt on two different scales. While some subsidiary drains (in-stream wetlands) were utilized on a smaller scale, the northern lakes were utilized on a bigger scale. In-stream wetland development is a practical solution to Egypt\u27s water quality problems