Access
There are conflicting figures about the number of people with access to safe water, and especially the number of people with access to sanitation. According to the official UN figures used to monitor the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, 99% of Egyptians had access to an improved water source and 94% had access to improved sanitation in 2008.
| Access to Water and Sanitation in Egypt (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban (43% of the population) |
Rural (57% of the population) |
Total | ||
| Water | Broad definition | 100% | 99% | 99% |
| House connections | 100% | 93% | 96% | |
| Sanitation | Broad definition | 97% | 93% | 95% |
| Sewage | n/a | n/a | 50% (2006 census) | |
According to one source, Egypt has reached the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people without proper access to safe water and sanitation by 2015 ahead of time in 2008. However, according to the government report of the same year, Egypt was still off track to achieve the sanitation target in rural areas, especially in Upper Egypt and in frontier governorates. Soakaway latrines, which are common in rural areas, often do not work properly due to the high groundwater table, infrequent emptying and cracks in the walls. Thus sewage leaks out and contaminates the surrounding streets, canals, and groundwater. Trucks that empty latrines and septic tanks do not necessarily discharge septage into wastewater treatment plants, but rather dump the content in the environment.
Read more about this topic: Water Supply And Sanitation In Egypt
Famous quotes containing the word access:
“Whilst the rights of all as persons are equal, in virtue of their access to reason, their rights in property are very unequal. One man owns his clothes, and another owns a country.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Lesbian existence comprises both the breaking of a taboo and the rejection of a compulsory way of life. It is also a direct or indirect attack on the male right of access to women.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“Make thick my blood,
Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)