The Serapium Forest is irrigated with treated wastewater, which provides the massive plants with a natural source of fertilizer. “The wastewater is rich in phosphorus and nitrogen,…The trees can’t get enough of it”. The water comes from the nearby city of Ismalia, population 400,000. There, it is freed from its coarse solids and pumped through a dozen miles of pipeline to this spot. Here at the forest site, settling basins separate even more solids. The final cleaning phase is carried out by microorganisms in huge vats, into which oxygen is pumped to accelerate the bacterial purification process. These nutrients effectively supercharge the forest, which was created as part of Egypt’s National Program for the Safe Use of Treated Sewage Water for Afforestation, launched 25 years ago. Read more about it here https://reasonstobecheerful.world/greening-the-desert-with-wastewater/

Photo credit : Joerg Boethling