3 Water Resource Availability and Quality …
43
several irrigation projects using treated wastewater are being studied or already realized. Currently, the treated effluents of 18 WWTPs, corresponding to a volume of 21
million m
3 , are used for the irrigation of 11,212 ha of agricultural land. The Sanitation
Utility (ONA) has put in place strategies to monitor wastewater quality produced by
treatment plants and is planning to upgrade some of them with tertiary treatment in
order to allow non-restrictive reuse with minimum risk to human health (Khachaba
2017). Two projects are underway: (i) Hennaya in Tlemcen, with an irrigated area
of 912 ha of fruit trees and fodders; and (ii) Boumerdès, with 125 ha of fruit trees.
The current program projects that 150 to 216 plants will be functioning in 2020, with
a capacity of 1200 million m
3 /year of clear water. 100,000 ha are expected to be
irrigated from these new sources.
In Libya, wastewater barely represents 1% of total water resources (Abu Zeid and
Elrawady 2012). From the 1970s until the 1990s, the availability of treatment capacity
trended up to 484,735 m
3 /day in 1985. In the period 1965–1995, 25 treatment plants
were constructed. However, only three were operating effectively, which resulted in
a large gap between the designed and the actual capacity of treatment (Wheida and
Verhoeven 2005). In general, wastewater is discharged partially treated or untreated
into the environment. Data on the quality of the produced and discharged wastewater
are not available due to a lack of trained people and facilities (Wheida and Verhoeven
2005) to produce this information. In 1999, a volume of 546 million m
3 of wastewater
was produced and only 40 million m
3 was treated and reused (Femia and Werrell
2013). Tripoli and Benghazi used to be the main areas of reuse of reclaimed water
with 6000 ha, where its application was limited to irrigated crops, fruit trees, and
animal fodder (Wheida and Verhoeven 2005).
In the 1990s, many of the wastewater treatment plants ceased functioning because
of lack of maintenance, especially in big cities like Benghazi and Tripoli. In other
regions, the lack of a sewage network and the poor access of the population to good
sanitation has resulted in the discharge of urban sewage water directly into the environment, including by large industries. Similarly, small industry with unregulated
discharge has caused environmental problems (DG Environment European Commission 2006). In some big cities like Tripoli, runoff is not collected, finding its way to
the sea with a heavy load of pollutants, according to the National Water Resources
Management Strategy, a five-year national program launched in 2004 to enable all
Libyan cities to connect to the sewer network. However, in North African countries,
political unrest has limited the availability of updated data on the sector.
For Mauritania, one of the drought effects is the lack of clean water for tens
of thousands of rural people, with associated health problems. Very few data are
available on wastewater collection, treatment, and reuse for irrigation. In 1999, 1
million m
3 of wastewater was collected and treated, but not reused. A single treatment
plant was operating with a capacity of 2000 m
3 /day (ECA Office for North Africa
2005). About 65% of the population had no access to sanitation (Abu Zeid and
Elrawady 2012) with no clean water in rural areas, unsurprisingly the source of
significant health problems (African Development Bank 2012). In 2007, only 38% of
the population had access to sanitation, with the greatest severity in rural areas. With
assistance by international programs, Mauritania planned to rehabilitate its treatment
43
several irrigation projects using treated wastewater are being studied or already realized. Currently, the treated effluents of 18 WWTPs, corresponding to a volume of 21
million m
3 , are used for the irrigation of 11,212 ha of agricultural land. The Sanitation
Utility (ONA) has put in place strategies to monitor wastewater quality produced by
treatment plants and is planning to upgrade some of them with tertiary treatment in
order to allow non-restrictive reuse with minimum risk to human health (Khachaba
2017). Two projects are underway: (i) Hennaya in Tlemcen, with an irrigated area
of 912 ha of fruit trees and fodders; and (ii) Boumerdès, with 125 ha of fruit trees.
The current program projects that 150 to 216 plants will be functioning in 2020, with
a capacity of 1200 million m
3 /year of clear water. 100,000 ha are expected to be
irrigated from these new sources.
In Libya, wastewater barely represents 1% of total water resources (Abu Zeid and
Elrawady 2012). From the 1970s until the 1990s, the availability of treatment capacity
trended up to 484,735 m
3 /day in 1985. In the period 1965–1995, 25 treatment plants
were constructed. However, only three were operating effectively, which resulted in
a large gap between the designed and the actual capacity of treatment (Wheida and
Verhoeven 2005). In general, wastewater is discharged partially treated or untreated
into the environment. Data on the quality of the produced and discharged wastewater
are not available due to a lack of trained people and facilities (Wheida and Verhoeven
2005) to produce this information. In 1999, a volume of 546 million m
3 of wastewater
was produced and only 40 million m
3 was treated and reused (Femia and Werrell
2013). Tripoli and Benghazi used to be the main areas of reuse of reclaimed water
with 6000 ha, where its application was limited to irrigated crops, fruit trees, and
animal fodder (Wheida and Verhoeven 2005).
In the 1990s, many of the wastewater treatment plants ceased functioning because
of lack of maintenance, especially in big cities like Benghazi and Tripoli. In other
regions, the lack of a sewage network and the poor access of the population to good
sanitation has resulted in the discharge of urban sewage water directly into the environment, including by large industries. Similarly, small industry with unregulated
discharge has caused environmental problems (DG Environment European Commission 2006). In some big cities like Tripoli, runoff is not collected, finding its way to
the sea with a heavy load of pollutants, according to the National Water Resources
Management Strategy, a five-year national program launched in 2004 to enable all
Libyan cities to connect to the sewer network. However, in North African countries,
political unrest has limited the availability of updated data on the sector.
For Mauritania, one of the drought effects is the lack of clean water for tens
of thousands of rural people, with associated health problems. Very few data are
available on wastewater collection, treatment, and reuse for irrigation. In 1999, 1
million m
3 of wastewater was collected and treated, but not reused. A single treatment
plant was operating with a capacity of 2000 m
3 /day (ECA Office for North Africa
2005). About 65% of the population had no access to sanitation (Abu Zeid and
Elrawady 2012) with no clean water in rural areas, unsurprisingly the source of
significant health problems (African Development Bank 2012). In 2007, only 38% of
the population had access to sanitation, with the greatest severity in rural areas. With
assistance by international programs, Mauritania planned to rehabilitate its treatment