El Hammam Treatment Plantمحطة معالجة الحمام

The El Hammam plant has been officially declared by Guinness World Records as the largest water-treatment facility on Earth, securing four global records at once — including the largest water-treatment facility and the biggest sludge-treatment operation. Spanning more than 320,000 square metres and built in a record 24 months by a consortium of major Egyptian and international firms under the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, it is a centrepiece of Egypt's national water and food-security strategy.

The plant's purpose is to reuse agricultural drainage water — water that drains off farmland and would otherwise flow out to the Mediterranean. By treating an enormous 7.5 million cubic metres per day to a standard suitable for irrigation, it allows this precious resource to be recycled rather than lost. In a country where every drop of water counts, this large-scale reuse is a vital part of stretching Egypt's limited supplies to cultivate new land in the western desert.

The treated water from El Hammam is sent into the artificial river and canal network that carries it deep into the desert, helping irrigate the roughly two million acres of new farmland the New Delta aims to create. By making this reclamation possible, the plant plays a direct role in Egypt's drive for greater food security and reduced dependence on imported staples — engineering on a record-breaking scale, in the service of feeding a growing nation.

• What it is: the world's largest water-treatment plant, in the New Delta.
• Arabic name: محطة معالجة الحمام (El Hammam Treatment Plant).
• Records: holder of four Guinness World Records.
• Capacity: 7.5 million m³ of drainage water treated per day.
• Size: more than 320,000 m², built in about 24 months.
• Purpose: recycling water to irrigate the New Delta.

Sources include recent official and news reports on the New Delta project (current as of 2026). Figures are approximate and the project is still developing.