Agricultural drainage water (ADW) may be considered as a strategic reserve to cope with the ever-increasing demand for fresh water. Numerous technological solutions must be examined to enable safe reuse of the ADW. Three technological sets must be addressed simultaneously. The first set is related to removal of suspended and soluble organic contaminants from the ADW. The second set comprises most of the known commercial desalting technologies. The third technological set includes hazardous contaminants removal systems. The appropriate schemes for treatment and reuse of ADW include the selection and integration of two or three subsets from the prementioned treatment categories. This paper is dedicated to the analysis of the first technological set, which includes the ADW pretreatment options prior to desalination. Five subsets will be discussed namely; biological treatment, chemical treatment, chemically enhanced biological treatment and filtration. The analysis comprises the characteristics of Egyptian drainage water and technological requirements to pretreat this wastewater category for subsequent desalting stage. The paper is concluded with selection guidelines encompassing technical and financial indicators under Egyptian and developing countries conditions.