The Little Book of Civilisation - Institution of Civil Engineers

support life
Key facts
80% of Cairo’s fresh water is used for irrigation
(supplying water to land and crops), not drinking.
Cairo produces 56 million m 3 of sewage each year,
which is the size of 20 great pyramids.
Each year, 2.3 billion m 3 , or 100 million petrol
tankers, of drainage water full of fertilisers, pesticides and
organic material goes back into the Nile upstream from Cairo.
By 2025, 86 million people will live near the River Nile.