Water is a critical resource in the lives of people who both benefit from its use and who are harmed by its misuse and unpredictability (flooding, droughts, salinity, acidity, and degraded quality). Water is a finite and vulnerable resource. Consequently, consumption of polluted water puts lives and livelihoods at risk because water has no substitute. There are many ways in which water intended for human consumption can get polluted.

Egypt, with the highest population in the area, is already considered to be in the water scarcity limit. Thus, there is an increasing need for desalted water to cope with the population growth and development. It is essential to determine the capital, operating and unit cost for producing water by desalination.

Urban habitats and high-rise multi-storey developments in urban India indicate new trends in infrastructure planning in water engineering. Along with water for industrial estates, SEZs and commercial centers; planning of water supply, sewerage, roads, urban drainage, and property services now warrants strengthening of urban local bodies and the water utilities. Cost recovery of after services, as a percentage of working expenses, is showing encouraging trend.

In the present study, the potential of a new adsorbent for arsenic removal and nanofiltration membrane for fluoride removal at household level has been studied.