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In Pictures: Gaza water crisis worsens

With 90 percent of the water unfit for human consumption, Palestinians struggle to meet their daily needs in Gaza.

The Palestinian Water Authority recently found that 95 percent of drinking water in the Gaza Strip does not meet World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
By Wissam Nassar
Published On 12 May 2014

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The 1.7 million Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip are facing a growing water shortage.

Currently, 90 percent of Gaza’s main water supply is unfit for drinking, and unsuitable even for agricultural use. The besieged territory’s main water supply, the coastal aquifer, is over-pumped, and a crippling Egyptian-Israeli blockade on Gaza has exacerbated the problem.

While water treatment plants exist in Gaza, they are under-developed, and frequent fuel shortages force them to regularly halt operations. As a result, local authorities are now pumping 90 million cubic litres of partially-treated sewage into the Mediterranean sea off the Gaza coast on daily basis.

The untreated sewage has infiltrated Gaza’s groundwater, contaminating the water supply, which now contains high chloride and nitrate levels. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has urged Palestinians in Gaza to boil water before they drink it or use it for cooking. An estimated 26 percent of diseases in Gaza are water related.

The water salinity has affected the types of food grown in Gaza, eliminating most citrus fruit, which are sensitive to saline, in favour of more salt-tolerant vegetables and flowers, like cabbage, spinach, green beans, cucumber and tomatoes. 

The quantity of water accessible to Palestinians in Gaza is less than one-third the consumption levels of an Israeli citizen, and far below minimum standards recommended by the World Health Organization. A recent United Nations report showed that if the current situation persists, the coastal aquifer could become unusable as early as 2016, and the damage could become irreversible by 2020.

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Palestinians in Gaza have access to approximately 27 litres of water per person per day, far less than the 100 litres recommended by WHO.
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Palestinians purchase more than a quarter of their water supply from Israeli water company, Mekorot. The company sells Gaza 4.2 million cubic metres of water annually.
More than 30 percent of households in Gaza only have access to running water for six to eight hours, once every four days.
An estimated 90 million cubic metres of sewage are dumped into the sea each day off the Gaza coast, causing health problems and harming the fishing industry.
Several signs along the coastline in Gaza City warn residents against swimming in the sewage-polluted waters.
Water in Gaza contains high nitrate and chloride levels, and causes numerous health problems, including skin irritation.
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Palestinian officials estimate that there are more than 40 private water purification plants in Gaza, treating 22,000 tonnes of sewage water daily.
Only 25 percent of sewage water is treated for reuse in Gaza. Since the start of 2014, water desalination plants have reduced operation by approximately 40 percent.
Palestinians can(***)t use 85 percent of agricultural wells operated with electricity in Gaza. As a result, 140,000 dunams (140 million sqr m) of farmland is at risk of drought.