By Nayrouz Talaat

Egypt’s rural governorate of Fayoum, south of Cairo, lacks access to clean drinking water and sanitation, according to a recently issued report.

Researchers tested the quality of water in more than a thousand houses, schools and health clinics in Fayoum to examine water-related diseases through a baseline survey.

Fayoum counts as one of Egypt’s poorer governorates, with a population amounting to 2.7 million. 

The city suffers a public health concern of water-borne illness because of extensive irrigation, according to the research conducted by the Social Research Center (SRC) of the American University of Cairo.

Few households are connected to a sewage system in Fayoum, up to 21 percent, leading most residents to use conservancy tanks to collect wastewater. These tanks often overflow and are difficult and costly to empty.

The report suggested that quick improvement measures be taken.