New Desalination Plant North of Hurghada to Produce 10,000 Cubic Meters a Day

Construction has begun on a new seawater desalination plant in the Shamal El-Ahyaa area in the north of Hurghada, Red Sea Governor Dr. Waleed El-Borqy announced on Saturday. The plant is designed to produce 10,000 cubic meters of drinking water a day and, according to the governorate's statement — reported by Egyptian outlets Al-Watan, Sada El-Balad, Rosa El-Youssef and Ahram Gate — it is due to be completed, tested and supplying the network within three months.

The governor described the project as an urgent response to Hurghada's growing population, its expanding construction and the sharp rise in visitor numbers, all of which require pumping additional quantities of water for households and for the city's different sectors.

Hurghada has seen repeated challenges in providing drinking water in recent years, El-Borqy said, particularly during the summer months and the peaks of the tourist season. He added that the water file has been at the top of his executive priorities since he took office.

The new plant is described as the first step in a wider strategic plan under which the governorate intends to build further desalination plants and upgrade the existing ones, with the stated aim of full water security across all of the city's districts. Executive agencies are working around the clock to compress the project's timetable, the statement said.

The announcement did not name a contractor or give a cost for the project. For residents and hotels alike, the date to watch is early November — three months from Saturday's announcement — when the plant is supposed to enter service.