While diminishing water resources are a global concern, in Palestine the struggle for water is not against global warming or multinational corporations, but for access to water, and against contamination of what precious resources there are.
Mohamed Ahmed, directeur van de afdeling Watercontrole van de Palestijnse Waterautoriteit (PWA), zegt dat "er nog steeds sprake is van een zeer snelle uitputting en verslechtering van het grondwater."
The main source of water is the coastal aquifer and ground water, which serves Gaza’s agriculture, commercial, industrial and public sectors, says Ahmed. But through the three weeks of Israeli attacks on Gaza last December and January, much of the water network infrastructure was destroyed or damaged, rendering already scarce water all the more scarce.
The destruction caused by Israeli shelling, tanks and bulldozers throughout the Strip further damaged Gaza’s sanitation network, causing 150,000 cubic metres of untreated and partially treated sewage waste water to flow over agricultural and residential land and into the sea during the attacks. The daily average of wastewater being pumped into the sea is still a staggering 80,000 cubic metres.
De waterzuiveringscrisis is al tientallen jaren een catastrofe in de maak. In 2004 zei een rapport over wateralternatieven, gepubliceerd door het Departement voor Milieu en Aardwetenschappen van de Islamitische Universiteit van Gaza, dat het grondwater in de hele Strook al "zo verslechterd was dat het gemeentelijke kraanwater brak en ongeschikt werd voor menselijke consumptie".
Techniques introduced for improving water quality included desalination and reverse osmosis, importing bottled water, and collecting rain water. But these initiatives have been rendered increasingly futile in the face of years of Israeli assaults on Gaza’s infrastructure, combined with its sanctions and siege regime, heightened since June 2007 when Hamas gained control of the Gaza Strip.
The siege has meant an increasingly long waiting list of spare parts, pipes, and building materials. This directly affects Gaza’s ability to maintain its sanitation and water treatment facilities.
"We’ve been waiting for three years for these items to enter, along with desalination units," says Ibrahim Alejla, media officer for Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utilities (CMWU).
In its January 2009 Damage Assessment Report, CMWU speaks of 5.97 million dollars damage to Gaza’s water and wastewater treatment facilities and infrastructure. Some of the greatest damage was done in northern Gaza, where three new facilities were totally destroyed. Severe damage was caused to the North Gaza Emergency Sewage Treatment Plant, as well as to wastewater distribution networks throughout the north.
Government sources say that more than 800 of Gaza’s 2,000 water wells were destroyed or rendered not useable from the last Israeli attacks.
Central Gaza also suffered. The Sheikh Rajleen Waste Water Treatment Plant, the largest in the Gaza Strip, was shelled, causing pipelines to rupture and raw sewage to flood more than a square kilometre of agricultural and residential land.
The CMWU says it had provided coordinates for all water and wastewater facilities to Israeli authorities. Yet throughout Gaza sites were hit. Much of the damage was to pipelines, torn up by Israeli tanks and bulldozers. Pipes are among the items Israeli authorities bar from entering Gaza.
Mohamed Ahmed van de PWA zegt dat de zandige natuur van de Sheikh Rajleen-regio ervoor zorgde dat afvalwater in het grondwater terechtkwam. "Gebieden met klei en aarde hebben de neiging de afvoer te vertragen, maar in Sheikh Rajleen liep het rioolwater zeer snel weg in het grondwater."
Ahmed says "we’ve found the presence of detergents in our monitoring wells, indicating that wastewater and ground water have mixed." Monther Shoblak, CMWU director, said this type of contamination occurred also in Beit Hanoun to the north of Gaza City where facilities were destroyed.
Central Gaza’s Wadi Gaza region is one of the most visible and noxious sites of sewage dumping. The black sludge streaming into the sea is seen and smelt by passengers on the ride south from Gaza city.
Ibrahim Alejla van CMWU zegt dat de afvalwaterstroom naar de zee niet alleen gevaarlijk is, maar ook verspillend. "Als de grenzen open zouden zijn en we de chemicaliën en apparatuur zouden kunnen krijgen die nodig zijn om het water te behandelen, zou het hergebruikt kunnen worden in de landbouw."
Mohamed Ahmed says nitrate levels have for the past two years been three times the World Health Organisation (WHO) limit. Nitrates are believed to be carcinogenic.
"It is too soon to see all of the negative impacts," says Mohamed Ahmed. And with Gaza’s Islamic University chemical laboratories bombed during Israel’s attacks, "Gaza has no facilities for testing water for the presence of heavy metals and other contaminants."
Ahmed verwacht dat er tijdens de tests talloze chemische verontreinigende stoffen zullen worden aangetroffen. "De oorlog vond plaats in de winter, tijdens ons regenseizoen. Als het regende, kwamen de chemicaliën en verontreinigende stoffen in de lucht rechtstreeks in het grondwater terecht."
The CMWU and PWA say that many of the most affected areas have had their water networks repaired. "The municipalities chlorinate water to eliminate contamination," says Ahmed. But difficulties arise when Israeli authorities prevent the entry of chlorine into Gaza. "Then the government issues advisories not to drink the network water."
Ahmed waarschuwt voor de gevolgen van vervuild grondwater voor plattelandsbewoners. "Veel mensen zijn voor hun drinkwater afhankelijk van waterbronnen", zegt hij.
The water problems extend beyond consumption of tainted water. The Gaza health ministry and WHO have issued swimming advisories, listing seven extremely polluted areas as high-risk for diarrhoeal and skin diseases.
Khaled Al-Habil, a fishermen at Gaza city port, says the waste-polluted sea is destroying marine life.
"If you open the fish up, they are black inside. Not like normal fish. The sewage is destroying the fish. People who swim in the water at the port, their skin becomes irritated, like a rash," Al-Habil said.
"Ik ben een visser, ik ken vis. Maar er zijn anderen die niet weten dat het uit de haven komt, die ze kopen en opeten", zei hij.
*straining garbage out of sewage; water is then passed through the treatment plant. In theory, with the proper chemical and treatments, wastewater would be treated before leaving the plant to the sea.
*demonstrating the emergency valve, in case of sewage and rainwater overflow, to send untreated sewage immediately to the sea (without straining the garbage out).
*Beit Lahia sewage treatment plant (photo November 2008). This pool overflowed in April 2007, killing numerous living in the surrounding area below.
*house below the wastewater pool, in danger if the pool again overflows.
*flooding in Khan Younis, earlier in 2008, result of strained water and sanitation networks.
*sewage treatment pool, destroyed during Israel`s war on Gaza. (photo: CMWU)
*photo CMWU
*damaged pipe, flooding surrounding agricultural area (photo: CMWU)
*flooding in Sheik Rajleen, following Israeli strike on the facility (photo: CMWU)
(photo: CMWU)
(photo: CMWU)
(photo: CMWU)
(photo: CMWU)
Q-40 well, northern Gaza, destroyed in Israeli air strikes. (photo: CMWU)
(photo: CMWU)
(photo: CMWU)
ZNetwork wordt uitsluitend gefinancierd door de vrijgevigheid van zijn lezers.
Doneren