Stantec, the leading international professional services company in the design and consulting sector, said that a consortium led by the company has won a contract from Egyptian Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW) to help improve access to sanitation services through wastewater infrastructure for communities in the country’s Fayoum governorate.
According to a statement from Stantec, the deal will see the firm act as the project implementation support and contract supervision consultant to manage the large-scale construction programme for the expansion of wastewater treatment, water reuse capabilities and the system sewerage network.
The Fayoum Wastewater Expansion programme is worth $508 million and is being 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.
The governate of Fayoum is in a rural, developing region located 90km southwest of Cairo. It is in close proximity to Lake Qarun, which is the area’s main freshwater resource and is Egypt’s third-largest lake, making it an important tourist attraction for 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 centralised wastewater network. This lack of access results in raw sewage being discharged directly to the agricultural drains and Lake Qarun, causing significant environmental, economic, and social harm.
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 four new WWTPs, expanding seven, rehabilitating 10, and decommissioning six existing WWTPs. It will also include constructing approximately 256 kilometres (159 miles) of new pressurized rising mains, 2,334 kilometres (1,450 miles) of sewer lines, and 100 new sewage pumping stations.
These measures will increase access to sanitation to 75.6% 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% of the region’s population.
“We are proud to lead this consortium to implement this EBRD-led programme 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.”