The U.S. Embassy, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and in cooperation with the Assiut Potable Water and Sanitation Company and the Egyptian Holding Company for Water and Wastewater Treatment, inaugurated three wastewater treatment systems in Abou Teeg District today. The new systems provide reliable sanitation services for 41,000 residents.
“Since 2009, USAID’s cooperation with Assiut has helped over 315,000 residents have access to potable water and sanitation,” said Sherry F. Carlin, Mission Director at USAID in Egypt. “The facilities we are inaugurating today will improve the health and living conditions, as well as the livelihoods, of thousands of families in Assiut.”
While all areas of Assiut have potable water services, sanitation services cover only 20 percent of the governorate. Since 2011, USAID has funded the construction of nine water and wastewater projects in Assiut serving 315,000 beneficiaries. This includes the three low-cost, slow-sand filter wastewater systems in Abou Teeg district that were inaugurated today that provide sanitation services for the first time for many residents. Additionally, construction of the systems provided thousands of hours of labor for people in Assiut.
USAID has invested more than $3.5 billion since 1979 to construct or upgrade water and wastewater facilities that have improved the health and living conditions of more than 25 million Egyptians. USAID partners with Egyptian counterparts to construct or upgrade water and wastewater facilities in underserved cities and rural areas using appropriate technologies and local contractors. Additionally, USAID helps to improve operations and management of the Holding Company and its regional subsidiaries to enable better service deliver.
This initiative is one facet of a comprehensive package of technical assistance from the American people that promotes job creation, improves agricultural and water productivity, improves children’s ability to read in the early grades, reduces infant and maternal mortality rates, and helps to ensure that future generations have the tools to succeed. These projects are part of the nearly $30 billion that the American people, through the U.S. Embassy, have invested in Egypt since 1978.
