Water fit for human use in the Gaza Strip is depleting rapidly

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Gaza Strip water supply could be depleted in five to ten years

15 September 2009

The Gaza Coastal Municipal Water Utility has warned that the supply of water fit for human use in the Gaza Strip is decreasing due to poor groundwater quality and climate change.

Gaza Coastal Municipal Water Utility engineer Majed Ghannam said: “By 2014, we will have reached a level in the aquifer where the water will not be suitable for human use.” The poor quality of the groundwater, due to over-extraction, has allowed seawater to infiltrate leaving tap water undrinkable.
 
Gaza’s water infrastructure is also in need of repair if the reality of the warning is to be avoided. Households unconnected to wastewater networks use cesspits which are not properly emptied and most raw sewage goes to lagoons and the sea or reaches the aquifer through the soil.
 
Other factors contributing to the decline in usable water include an increasing population, climate change, wastewater seepage, agricultural fertilisers and the drilling of unlicensed wells.
 

 

This article is featured in:
Cleaning & Purification  •  Distribution & Supply  •  Environment & Pollution

 

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