The Nile is the country's basic life-sustaining system, but the available water is already fully utilized, mainly for agricultural and human use. Salinization and waterlogging affect the productivity of crop land. Aquifers are threatened with salinization and pollution. Irrigation canals and drains increasingly suffer from weeds and the accumulation of pesticides. Urban areas and archaeological sites are affected by rises in water tables due to poor drainage.
Effluents thus endanger the health and welfare of hundreds of thousands of people.
WHO statistics show about 90,000 annual recorded deaths linked to water-borne diseases. Egypt also suffers from air pollution problems in the main urban areas, where over half of the population resides. Concentrations of carbon monoxide, lead and sulphur dioxide in these areas and other mixed residential-industrial areas are well above acceptable levels. Due to widespread energy inefficiency, carbon dioxide emissions are unnecessarily high. The concentration of airborne dust in Cairo exceeds international standards by a factor of 10.