Water Infrastructure in Gaza
Gaza’s water infrastructure has been badly damaged due to the blockade and conflict. This has led to a lack of safe drinking water, which is a major problem for Palestinians living in Gaza.
Gaza is a densely populated coastal enclave with 1.8 million people and limited water infrastructure. The average per capita water supply is 50 liters per day, but the needs are much more than that.
Gazans have no access to clean drinking water and suffer from high rates of diseases such as; typhoid fever, dysentery, hepatitis A and E-coli infections.
Clean Water and Public Health
Access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation is a fundamental human right, but only one in ten people in Gaza has direct access to clean water.
About 1.8 million people need some form of humanitarian assistance in the areas of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), including about 52 percent of children.
Gaza suffers from an acute water crisis. More than 90 percent of households have access to mains water from which clean water previously flowed, but the water is no longer safe to drink.
The situation in Gaza has gone from bad to worse over the past fifteen years: safe water now reaches one in ten households.
The destruction of the WASH structure, weak resource operation, and rapid-fire population growth contribute to the decreasingly dire dearth of safe drinking water and access to sanitation.
With the Palestinian population spread over fractured geographical locales and prognosticated to double to 9.8 million by 2050, investment in structure isn’t only necessary but also critical to maintaining the health of Palestinian children.
No Water for Hygiene and Clean ‘Slow Poisoning’
The defiled drinking water is sluggishly poisoning people in Gaza.
Moment 97 percent of Gaza’s drinking water isn’t potable, according to a joint statement issued by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and the Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health (GIWEH).
About a quarter of the diseases prevalent in Gaza are caused by contaminated water, and 12% of the deaths of children and infants are related to intestinal diseases related to polluted water.
The prolonged blockade has led to a water security crisis.
Palestinians in Gaza, which some have described as an open prison, live where they have few options to improve water quality due to their occupation.
Perfect Solution for Gaza Water Crisis
Water in Gaza is not suitable for drinking because of its salinity, the pollution of seawater with sewage water, the increase in the salinity of groundwater wells, and the scarcity of water that is not commensurate with the population density.
For years, several parties have been working to find solutions to the water crisis, most notably the establishment of desalination plants in the Gaza Strip and sewage treatment.
However, these are strenuous efforts that still face obstacles.
The most lacking is not technical solutions but political will. Because of the occupation, the residents of Gaza will not be able to find a radical solution to water.
Donate to Help Gaza get Clean Water
“The best charity is giving water to drink and He was the most generous in giving charity.”
(Ahmad)
One of the best types of Sadaqah is Sadaqah Jariyeh.
Digging water wells or desalination plants to make them suitable for human use is one of the best works that a person can do to help people in Gaza.
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- The Difference Between Sadaqah And Zakat
- Resettlement Programs For Refugee
FAQ
Why Does Gaza Have a Water Crisis?
Contamination of the coastal aquifer, on which Gaza relies as its sole water source, is a result of over-pumping and sewage contamination, in addition to targeting the occupation of seawater desalination plants.
Where Does Gaza Get Water?
The Coastal Aquifer is the only source of water in the Gaza Strip. It runs beneath the coast of Israel, with Gaza downstream at the end of the basin.
Does Gaza Have Clean Water?
Just one in ten people have direct access to safe water in the Gaza Strip.
Does Israel Supply Gaza With Water?
Israel sells a limited part of the water to the Palestinians in Gaza. While Israel transports water from the north of its territory to the south, the Palestinians are not allowed to move water from the West Bank to Gaza.