Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi says the country is constructing its largest water purification plant to better face future threats of shortages.

The announcement comes as tensions with Ethiopia over the African country's building of a massive dam remain unresolved.

According to Egyptian state-run dailies, el-Sissi was widely quoted on Tuesday as saying "the state won't permit a water crisis."

Al-Ahram quoted el-Sissi as describing the plant, being built near Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea as the "largest project in history" of water distillation and sewage treatment.

Last month, Egypt urged the World Bank to help resolve Cairo's tensions with Addis Ababa as Ethiopia finalizes Africa's biggest hydro-electric plant on the Blue Nile.

Egypt says the dam will endanger its water share of the Nile, a claim Ethiopia denies.