Study of Reclaimed Water Reuse Standards and Prospects in Irrigation in Egypt

The subjects of wastewater treatment and the reuse of water are of excessive significance, especially in regions where the lack of conventional resources is an essential problem, as it is in the situation of Egypt. This paper examines the present status for the reuse of reclaimed water in Egypt, future national water plan for reclaimed water reuse, reviewing reclaimed water reuse standards for indirect irrigation in Egypt, organizations, countries that have modified reuse of reclaimed water standards. In addition, proposing standards for reclaimed water reuse in irrigation purposes aimed to maximize environmental outcomes. The proposed standards are in terms of salinity, nutrients, turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), pathogens, trace elements, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The proposed turbidity (NTU) for cooking vegetables is 10, total suspended solids for cooking vegetables 10 mg/L and for cooking crops for human consumption is 35 mg/L. BOD concentration for cooking crops for human consumption is 35 mg/L, and for cooking vegetables is 15 mg/L and COD concentration is 35 mg/L. The proposed standards put concentrations in mg/L for Aluminium (Al), Cobalt (Co), Beryllium (Be), Lithium (Li), and Vanadium (V) that not detected in the Egyptian local Decree 92/2013 as 0.5, 0.05, 0.02, 0.5, and 0.05 respectively, in addition, the Decree put high levels of Molybdenum (Mb) (0.07 mg/L), the proposed concentration is 0.01 mg/L. In addition, USEPA 2012 standards for pathogens are proposed in this study. This study is expected to encourage reclaimed water reuse in Egypt in irrigation practices.