The Project concerns the capacity increase and treatment level upgrade of the existing Alexandria West Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The upgrade of the WWTP’s treatment level from primary to secondary will improve the quality of effluent from the plant and contribute to the depollution of the adjacent Lake Maryout as well as the Mediterranean Sea.

Executive Summary

The Project concerns the capacity increase and treatment level upgrade of the existing Alexandria West Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in the city of Alexandria in Egypt. The WWTP was constructed in the early 1990s and up to this day operates only at primary treatment level. Over the years, this has led to high levels of pollution in the adjacent Lake Maryout as well as El-Mex Bay and, ultimately, the Mediterranean Sea.
Considering the current environmental situation in Lake Maryout as well as given the Egyptian national standards for wastewater treatment, a higher level of treatment is necessary. In addition, the WWTP is nearing its design capacity of 462,000 m3/day due the population growth in the plant’s catchment area. An extension of the plant’s design capacity to 600,000 m3/day is necessary to service the needs of the catchment area until 2050. The Project will thus increase the plant’s design capacity and will upgrade the level of treatment of the Alexandria West WWTP to secondary (biological) treatment.
The Project will also include sludge treatment and digestion to allow for bio-energy generation. The energy generated by the sludge digestion will recover about 80% of the power consumption needed for the plant’s operation and thus contribute to the financial sustainability of the project. The sludge digestion will also entail important greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, thus ensuring that the project makes a significant contribution to climate change mitigation.

It is foreseen that through this project the following results will be achieved:

• Upgrade of the Alexandria West WWTP’s treatment level from primary to secondary treatment;
• Increase of the treatment capacity of the WWTP from 462,000 m3/day to 600,000 m3/day;
• Ensuring that wastewater is treated to acceptable levels for the population in the plant’s catchment area up until the year 2050;
• Overall generated energy at the WWTP through the digester provides approximately 80% of the energy required to operate the WWTP;
• Up to 1 500 000 persons will benefit from improved sanitation services;
• Improved quality of surface water in Lake Maryout, El Mex Bay and the Mediterranean Sea;
• Climate change mitigation through avoided GHG emissions and renewable energy generation;
• Climate change adaptation through measures to make the WWTP more resilient to flooding;
• Positive economic externalities through the improvement of the economic situation for fishery and tourism in the area and avoided public health costs.