Maintenance management in the Egyptian water sector: will management provide an answer to maintenance?

Maintenance has become a major challenge for the Egyptian water sector. The Fayoum Drinking Water and Sanitation Company seeks to address this by the application of comprehensive maintenance management to the entire scope of its operations, both drinking water and sanitation. Maintenance management focuses on managing the maintenance process and all the different contributing factors that at the end of the day determine the difference between effective management or not. These concepts have been tested in the framework of the Fayoum Drinking Water and Sanitation Project for application in Urban Water Supply and Sanitation. The lessons learned are documented in Guidelines for Maintenance that provide clear guidance in 5 critical areas, i.e. asset information, maintenance processes, organisation, resources, and management. A summary of the model is presented and the lessons learned are presented and its impact on the current articulation of the Fayoum Maintenance Model highlighted.