Egyptian Slum Faces Water Crisis in 95-Degree Heat

August 14, 2012 from Ahram Online

The informal settlement of Saft el Laban in Giza has become used to a lack of running water. For the last year they have only had two of hours of clean water coming out of their taps each day, but recently the situation has become even worse. For around six weeks the hundreds of thousands of residents of Saft el Laban have had no water coming out of their taps. During the sweltering summer heat, and during the month long fast of Ramadan, the lack of water has become unbearable. Members of the People's Committee of Saft el Laban have been protesting the water crisis at the governorate of Giza headquarters, but the water has still not come back on. In the absence of any long term solution to the problem, residents collect water from neighbouring towns, and many have dug into the ground to bring up their own supply of water which is often unclean and unhealthy. Video by Simon Hanna for Ahram Online.

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Saft el Laban

Saft El Laban is a city in Giza Governorate, Egypt. Explore this topic

Giza

Giza, is the third largest city in Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile, some 20 km southwest of central Cairo. Along with Shubra El-Kheima, Cairo and Helwan, the four cities form the Province of Greater Cairo metropolis. The city of Giza is the capital of the Giz... Explore this topic

Egypt

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Most of its territory of 1,010,000 square kilometers lies within North Africa and i... Explore this topic

Drinking water

Drinking water or potable water is water safe enough to be consumed by humans or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry meets drinking water standards, even though only a very smal... Explore this topic

Water crisis

Water scarcity involves water stress, water shortage or deficits, and water crisis. The concept of water stress is relatively new. Water stress is the difficulty of obtaining sources of fresh water for use, because of depleting resources. A water crisis is a situation where th... Explore this topic

Water supply

Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Irrigation is covered separately. Explore this topic

Shanty town

A shanty town is a slum settlement of plywood, corrugated metal, sheets of plastic, and cardboard boxes. Shanty towns, which are usually built on the periphery of cities, often do not have proper sanitation, water supply or aqueduct, electricity or telephone services. Shanty t... Explore this topic

Tap water

Tap water is potable water supplied to a tap inside the household or workplace. It is a principal component of "outdoor plumbing", which became available in suburban areas of the developed world during the last half of the 19th century, and common during the mid-20th century. ... Explore this topic

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; Muslims worldwide observe this as a month of fasting. This annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month lasts 29–30 days based on the visual sightings of the crescent moon, according to numerou... Explore this topic

Al-Ahram

Al-Ahram, founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya. It is majority owned by the Egyptian government. Given the large dialectal variety of the Arabic language, Al-Ahram is widely considered an inf... Explore this topic

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Saft el Laban

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