Together Association
for Development and Environment
R. No/19 for 2006
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PRESENTATION HERE
Rural areas and Villages
Egypt
Prepared by
Sameh Seif Ghali
Executive Director
Together Association
Together Association (TA) is a non-profit organization registered under the
Egyptian Law for NGOs.
To create sustainable & effective environmental and developmental
programs in Upper Egypt.
We aim at serving both: poor and marginalized communities, through
integrated developmental programs, based on lessons learnt and past
experiences of projects implemented on the international level. With the
involvement of community groups, sharing their experiences and engaging in
solving their problems.
Together Association
Together Association (TA) works closely with rural communities, focusing on
poor and marginalized people suffering from state neglect at all service
levels.
Our mission is to help those people in developing their lives through:
1- Infrastructure systems.
2- Health and education services.
3- Stable sources of income.
4- Citizenship and political participation.
The Problem
One of our biggest problems in rural Egyptian communities is related to
infrastructure. About 50% of the rural population in Egypt (47 million
people) do not have access to improved sewage systems, most waste water in
rural areas is untreated, thus polluting ground water, causing health
problems and contaminating food/crops.
Unique Idea
Together Association’s idea -represented in one of its founders (Sameh Seif)- is to build
liquid waste and used water treatment facilities, which are simple and low-cost in their
design, construction, operation and maintenance. These treatment facilities will be a
model for rural Egyptian communities in promoting better public health,
environmental friendly sanitation, and local involvement.
Objective
To build a model for liquid waste and used water treatment facility, simple
and low-cost in its design , construction , operation and maintenance,
to be a model for rural Egyptian communities, promoting the health of
the public and the environment.
Implementation Plan
Growth & Revenue
Project Organization
Human Capital
Achieve growth by multiplication
Agree on and execute
implementation plan
Appoint implementation supervisor
Ensure future
revenue stream
Develop individual solution
Provide engineering consultants
Establish community support
Identify local needs
Recruit local
team members
Local Awareness & Involvement
Local Governments, CDAs, Individual Citizens and Households
Trial Implementation
The first implementation for the sanitation system was in 2008,
in two Bani-Suief villages ( Jacoub & Jaafr ) with 10.000
inhabitants (700 families).
The System components
1- Assembly lines: connecting houses with the system.
2- Collection Manhole point: gathering waste water and transferring it to the lifting
station.
3- Lifting Station: Forcing the waste water into the main pumps to treatment station.
4-The treatment plant: : composed of an anaerobic bacteria treatment chamber; an
aerated weir; an air injection tank, and finally a gravel bed planted with local cane
treating organic matter with naturally generated anaerobic bacteria feeding filtered
water into a gravity-fed sequence of three shallow ponds for solar treatment.
Project Phases
Preparation Phase
• Raise community awareness and explain the importance and benefits of the
project.
• Motivate entire community to contribute in kind or cash to the establishment
of the sanitation system.
• Form committee in the community and train members to raise awareness and
monitor progress.
• Survey village street layout and number of homes to select sites for lift stations
and treatment plant.
Construction Phase

Engage experienced engineering
consultants to prepare tender
documents and explain the work to be
carried out for the construction of the
assembly system and pump station.

Employ supervising engineer to
monitor implementation of the
construction of wastewater treatment
plant.
Project Phases
Operation & Maintenance Phase

Train selected group of local youth to be a part
of the system’s operating and maintenance
crew.

Determining ownership model and agreeing on
monthly operating fees, in preparation of system
operation. The fee will be taken from the
community after the project has completed all
its phases, by then all houses will be connected
to the lifting station. There is no additional cost
to the beneficiary.
Advantages Of The System
• High levels of treatment possible by increasing planted area
• Uses gravity feed to reduce use of energy
• Low capital investment (typically 5% of traditional technology)
Sustainability of the Project
Operation and maintenance of the project may be
sustained in either of the following two ways:
1.
Establish a local CDA, from the community, to
collect fees, operate and maintain the system
Or
2. Turn over the system to the local governmental
company for water and sanitation, to operate
and maintain- with a fee levied on the water bill
of each participating home.
The preferable choice is that of the local NGO for
greater direct involvement and the community’s
sense of ownership.
Social Benefits & Advantages of the System
• Improved public health in the local community, mainly
because of the availability of a better sanitation and a safer
water supply.
• Lower costs for communities compared to governmentproposed sewage systems that often call for massive
investments, thus increasing the likelihood that a
community will actually be able to develop a system that
meets its inhabitants’ needs.
• Unemployed village youths or other members of the
community are trained to construct and provide
maintenance services for these systems, therefore
generating local employment.
• The increased availability of basic infrastructure reduces
the pressure to migrate to urban centers for inhabitants of
rural areas, especially its younger population.
Social Benefits & Advantages of the System
 Environmental
impact: many villages will now be able to treat waste water instead of it
being spilt somewhere and then driven into a river and wasted.
 Less land usage than traditional installations.
 Harmonious appearance, part of the landscape, no big technological installations
necessary.
 Changing behavior of villagers: the new treatment technology is less expensive and
intrusive than traditional installations, more villagers will be willing to use it and change
their waste water behavior.
 Further benefits include the ability to produce organic fertilizers and water suitable for
irrigation purposes.
Inputs
Outputs
 Constructing, operating
and maintaining of
sanitation system
 Smart sanitation system for villages
 Staff
 15 sanitation systems working efficiently
and with outputs according to
international standards, benefitting
32.700 people
 Mobilized community
resources through
awareness campaigns
 Government licenses for
land ownership
 Creation of 17 community development
associations (CDAs) in 17 villages
 1600$ monthly fees paid by the
beneficiaries for the operation and
maintenance cost
 Funding
 50 units of water in high quality made
available per month
 Village mapping and
survey on streets, open
spaces and houses
 Increase in the amount of irrigation
water for farmlands
 Average of 8 local youth employed in
each project
Outcomes
 Reduction of
environmental pollution
 Improvement of public
health with occurrences of
water-born diseases falling
on average 70% in the
communities
 Increased productivity and
income by creating
opportunities for youth
 Heightening of pride and
sense of belonging to one's
village- Community
Empowerment
 Reduction of internal
migration from the
countryside to the city
 Higher agricultural yield