Water in Hurghada. To drink or not to drink? That is the question!
Buying an apartment in Egypt is inexpensive and very easy. Enough to contact a good real estate agency or an experienced realtor. But, unfortunately, the agency does not teach how to live in this country correctly, when you become the happy owner of your own apartment on the Red Sea coast!
One of the first questions arising from the “new residents” is the question of the suitability of tap water for drinking and cooking.
DO NOT NOT NEVER EVER drink WATER from the tap!!!!
At least the first six months! And doesn’t matter how "cool" filters you have installed.
Hurghada, a couple of decades ago, was a small fishing village in the desert, by the sea. Very salty sea! Its freshwater sources are not here. The bulk of fresh water enters in Water Company of Hurghada from the Nile River, through the Qena and Luxor.
According to the method of delivery of this water, the housing stock of Hurghada is divided for two types:
Waterline here it is called government water and imported (tank cars).
And in fact, in both of this type the water does not fall into your apartment directly. First, it is pumped into tanks on the roof, either under the ground, and then, when you are turning water on at home, it either flows “naturally,” under pressure, or is pumped out of the ground with the help of a motor. And this is the main reason why it is not allowed to use this water for cook!
Tanks in which water accumulates and settles are not cleaned for YEARS! In a really hot climate of Egypt! And on the walls of these tanks you can find many bacteria.
Egyptian people and old residents of Hurghada have already developed immunity from it. But I strongly advise do not check up the strong of your health, by this way, if you are new in Egypt !!!
Even hotel guides give advice to tourists, brushing their teeth, ONLY with bottled water!
It is easiest and safest to buy bottled water and use only such water for the first couple of months! Both for drinking and for cooking. So you will give a chance to your body SLOWLY and PROTECTIVELY get use with the specific of local water. Keep in mind that even in the purchased bottles of water in Hurghada there are Egyptian bacteria, but in minimal doses.
After a couple of months, you can safely cook on tap water, and after a couple of months, you can already make tea on such water, passing it through the filters.
As written above, the main supplier of fresh water in Hurghada is the Nile river, but there are alternative options:
Most of hotels in Hurghada have special stations that desalinate sea water. And it is this water that get from the tap. It is fresh, clean, but without additives. This is “empty” water and is intended for technical purposes only. It’s can be used to take a shower, wash something, put on the plants, but no more!
There are more modern stations available here. But, unfortunately, there are very small amount of them.
At the moment, in the province of the Red Sea there are only two places where tap fresh water can be drinking. This is the El Gouna town, 30 kilometers north and the mini city of Makadi City, 15 kilometers south of Hurghada.
Both were built by the largest developer of Egypt, the Orascom company, which installed modern water stations, where water is not only desalinated and passed through a multi-stage filtering and cleaning system. In the same place, minerals and special additives are added to the water, which make the water "life" and suitable for drinking.
In my experience I can say that even after 17 years of living in this wonderful country, and I really love Egypt with all my heart, I cook on tap water, but I drink and pour only bottled water into the kettle ... maybe just out of habit ?!